Dangerous Games
by Exodia-Girl
Summary: (Rated For Swearing) The Bladebreakers are common street-tough thugs. Unknowing that their neighborhood has been under FBI surveilance. So when the guys have a brush in with 5 undercover agents, their calm illegal life style flies out the window!
1. On The Streets Of LA

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Synopsis:_** _This is another of my Alternate reality fan fiction works. This time, it is set in modern times. In the city of LA. The boys and the gals are two rival gangs fighting for supremacy over who will outdo whom, and the other gangs and escape the clutches of the law. But when things get dirty in the hood, and life becomes a little too much like a frying pan on high heat, the two groups decide to take a leap of faith and go legit. What will it take for them to prove themselves to the guys in blue and separate themselves from the gang life of the suburbs? And to top it all off there is a wildcard in the games called 'lust'!_

**_Genre:_** _Action/Adventure/Suspense/Thriller/Romance****_

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**_Rating:_** **_(PG-13 / R)_**_ Due to foul language, violence, and mature situations._

**_Chapter #1:_**_ On the Streets of L.A._

Friday night, a time when many residents of Los Angeles come home to their families after a long and tiring week of work. But beneath the placid surface of this routine city life lays a hidden world. One where the fittest survive, one where having the faster car, the better gun, and the sharper wit does matter, a world where the only law is that one doesn't kill without escaping the hate of someone else. A world in which gangs rule, and one does no expect to survive without the help of a few good pals. It is in this world that this story takes place.

It was your typical Friday night in Los Angeles, the slums. Or Gang-Central as some called it. The local clubs were full of people dancing. Streets were devoid of all traffic, except the occasional street race. Even police cruisers didn't dare come into the neighborhood without a reason, or backup. In a neighborhood where everyone had a gun, rifle, or shotgun for personal safety, cops were not appreciated, or welcomed.

Elsewhere, in a more quiet part of the neighborhood, stood a shoebox shaped building. It looked abandoned from the outside, but that was not the case. Inside, in a large space that looked like a living room because it had three couches, one armchair and a coffee table were two teenaged boys. They were about nineteen years of age.

"That was too easy," one spoke, counting a hefty wad of cash in his hands, "Those idiots didn't even know we stole their cash," He added, "That job went smooth, and it's Friday night, I'm up to spend some of this, you know." He was tall, with dark blue hair. L.A. Lakers cap on his head, on backwards, a tank top with an L.A. Lakers jersey over it and blue jeans, matching Nikes on his feet. He pulled out his black leather wallet and hastily stuffed in a few twenties into it. Wadding the rest of his share up he shoved it into his pocket.

"Tell me about it, how about we go to a club or something?" the second boy volunteered. He was shorter, blond with crystal clear blue eyes. He wore black Nikes with matching jeans, an Exco football jersey that went from black at the bottom to orange at the shoulders.

"Yo Max, turn on the TV," another boy bounded into the room, "I heard on the radio about our heist last night, I want to see what those fools are showing about it, if anything." This boy was tall, with ink black hair tied back into a ponytail that reached beyond his butt. His shaggy bangs also framed a pair of cat-like, golden eyes. He wore white Jordans with blue detailing, jeans that were white at the bottom, but became deep blue at the top. A white muscle shirt, and a white Exco windbreaker jacket on top of that, unzipped. If one looked closely enough, they could see the buckle of a vest type gun holster under the jacket.

Max grabbed the remote and turned on their television, it wasn't a plasma screen but a regular TV with pirated satellite. He turned on the local news and turned up the volume. On the screen a woman was talking about gang violence, but nothing too specific.

"Well that was a dud," Tyson commented.

"Hey who's complaining, if they don't give us enough coverage, how do they expect to catch us?" Rei asked.

"I say we go out and celebrate tonight, down at the local club, Max I think you reserved us VIP pass right?" Tyson glanced at his blond friend who nodded.

"Did you forget, it's race night, most people with decent cash will be at the track watching street racing," Rei supplied.

"Hey wasn't Kai in one of the races there?" Max suddenly piped up.

"Speaking of him, where is he?" Tyson wondered. The two shrugged in a single motion. Tyson got up and shoved his wallet back into his pocket; he'll have to go to the bank tomorrow to put his 'salary' somewhere safe. 

He stepped into the garage; it was huge, designed for more than six vehicles.

"Kai! Man there you are! It's seven, the race is at eight, you better get into high gear," Tyson called. Kai looked up at him and glared.

"I am perfectly aware when the race is on! I don't need to do trial laps you idiot, I'm the champ for the past six months straight!" he called. Kai was the tallest of the six of them. With bi-colored blue hair. He wore black timberland shoes with matching black Mecca jeans, front of the legs tucked neatly under the loosely tied timb tongues. In his belt loops he had a chain belt with a skull buckle on it. A dark blue muscle shirt tucked down and a loose Hawaiian style unbuttoned shirt on top of that, it was dark blue as well, with barbwire design on the bottom and sleeve hems.

Currently he was shining a spotless _Ford GT_ colored in midnight blue with silver stripes. The engine was on, and the blue neon lights at the bottom rims of the car's undercarriage were glowing. It also had a spoiler that looked like it belonged on a plane and not a car. The driver side door was open and fast-beat music was blaring from the inside of the car, not loudly, but loud enough to resonate thought the garage.

"Whatever man, I'm going to the club, oh by the way… bring back the beer six pack you win untouched, I need it the poker rounds tomorrow," Tyson stressed the word 'untouched' as he approached his own car. A tricked out _1996 Ferrari 550 __Maranello_ with a rear spoiler. The car was bright white in color, and had long dragon murals on either side that stretched all the way from above the front wheels to the back. It also had a full black leather mask on the nose, custom made.

Kai watched him go as his car roared to life; it's headlights turning on to insane brightness. After he drove out Kai shook his head and resumed polishing his own car. After finally being satisfied in it, he reached inside and shut off the music, throwing the polish rag behind his seat at into the polish kit that lay there in the mini trunk he sat down and buckled in. Shutting the door with a rev of the car's engine he was off.  The nitro thrusters at the back gave off a burst of fire as Kai gave them a test firing.

He accelerated, deciding to warm up the engine along the way. The track, or 'the circle' as it was called in the neighborhood was an abandoned neighborhood street that was a loop with treacherous twists and turns, and had only one exit, making it ideal for street racing.

The local residents have long been driven out by the rising popularity of the 'sport'. And the rising crime levels it brought. Illegal gambling was just the tip of the iceberg going on at the track. Illegal prostitution was also a favorite past time for drunken happy gamblers. But the track was also where the best races happened, and if you were as esteemed like as he was, you had premium starting position in all races, no test laps required.

A group that got the money from the betting on the races ran the races, and they involved prizes. Winning a race meant a 'clean' 1000$ and a complimentary six-pack of Guinness beer. Even the last place got something so they were a good way to make money. And they attracted many people, from rookies to serious car lovers, out to show off their tricked out cars, SUVs, vans, and hot rods. Of course one did not race hot rods with SUVs, the races had divisions. And his was Sport-Car division, where only names like Ford, Ferrari, and Porsche dominated.

Arriving early he took up a spot at the 'participant parking' zone. A lot designated to for participants only. Around him were many rookies working on their hot rods and there was an occasional woman with a tricked out car, but they usually didn't go far. Street racing on normal asphalt roads put on a lot of pressure on engines, and one needed to be an excellent mechanic to maintain a street race engine properly.

A dark-skinned man approached his driver-side window and motioned him to roll it down, which Kai did.

"Hey man, sup? Ready for the race?" he asked.

"Yea," Kai replied, this one was one of the 'workers' on the track

"Listen up Ghost, you missed the trial runs. Now I know you are above all those being the champ. But you missed some spitfire rookie showing up here driving a Toyota, would you believe it? One of those nimble Toyotas! Celica I believe. Anyways… I don't know who it is, or whether it's a guy or another one of them lucky hoes, but I tell you. The way he was cornering, you'd think he was nuts! I tell ya watch out for him, I got money riding on ya, don't you dare lose," the man spoke.

"I wont lose, you know me," Kai replied. It was the usual pep talk; he had many fans, but no one stronger than this one, who needed to win bet money to help support his kids.

"Whatever man, just in case I have a sweet bet riding on the SUV class, and if I'm lucky, I'll take both. Anyways, keep sharp!" with that he walked off. Kai rolled up the window and looked around the lot, trying to spot any Toyota Celica around, he seen one of them before, nimble little trash cans with an attitude, if tricked out correctly they could be some serious competition.

"Listen up fellas, the Sport Class is about to begin, all those participating in the eight o'clock race get your tail pipes on the track," a voice spoke over a megaphone. Kai moved, he hated the anxious wait before the race, having periodically missed the trial runs, he never knew whom he would be competing against, but he believed that added a bit more challenged to the race.

At the track, hundreds of people gathered to watch, mainly people from the suburbs in for some illegal entertainment and gambling. Spotting the other eight racers he took his customary position, F-Center, in a formation of nine cars, three by three, F-Center meant Front-Center. That's when he saw the Celica, standing to his right.

It was a sight to see, bright red paint job, silver stripes on the nose, roof, and back, like some Dodge viper, large rear spoiler, orange neon lights on the cars bottom rim, red ones in it's wheel spokes, and what appeared to be a sign mounted on the back. The type that was on busses, displaying their number and a scrolling text of their destination, this one was black with red lighting elements, it flashed 'Red-Fox' over and over. The sign looked like it was mounted on a removable frame, probably a race-only accessory. People tended to have that.

"This is the final race of the night for our sport cars people. I hope you have your tickets ready. Anyways… please put a welcoming hand to our reigning sport car race champ… Ghost!" the crowd seemed to explode into cheers. "I would also like to wish good luck to the rookie standing F-Right, Red-Fox… you're going to need it buddy!" there was laughter coming from the crowd at that. There was no response from the red car however; it was unusual for drivers to take insults like that lightly in this part of the city.

The rules of the race were simple; the race involved twenty laps, no bumping or contact at all; and if racers had Nitro thrusters, they were limited to five bursts. But always there was some smart aleck broke them, there was always that one fool who got disqualified for the dumbest thing.

The hotwired stop light at the start line turned on, it was steady red. But as it went yellow, engines began to rev. Everyone was anxious because the first acceleration often decided your chances of winning, if you were dead last from the start, chances were you wouldn't finish first.

The second the light changed green the cars were off with screeching wheels and dust clouds. Kai had no trouble getting in the lead with his car's impressive acceleration of stand still to hundred miles per hour in less than three seconds. But what surprised him was the rev of another engine at his right, a sound that usually wasn't heard when he was doing laps because hardly anyone could keep up with his GT. Glancing from the corner of his eye he was surprised to see Red-Fox was keeping up with him seemingly effortlessly, although he was not in the lead, he was still keeping up.

"The racers are off! Ghost once again takes an impressive lead! But what is a shocker fellas is that Red-Fox is keeping up!" the announcer called. Kai floored the accelerator and pulled in front more, deciding not to over-exert his engine so early in the race he allowed Red-Fox to tag along behind him, if push came to shove, he still had his nitros.

Elsewhere in the shadows, stood a woman, clad in extremely baggy blue jeans, steel-toed boots, fingerless gloves, white thin-strapped tank top, over-sized black leather jacket, and a chain belt. Her hair was ink black and in front of her eyes she had a pair of binoculars. By her side stood a Yamaha FZ-6 sport bike colored in dark blue and black.

"Common Charly, don't let that spook outdo my little handy work," she spoke particularly to no one.

On the track, the Toyota and Ford were still neck-to-neck, fighting for supremacy. Going into the tenth lap the cornering was insane now at speeds of over hundred miles per hour. Occasionally the Toyota, nimble as it was, took the lead because somehow they switched sides, so now it was on the Ford's left side. And it was doing tight corners like a dream.

"I don't believe this! Red-Fox has marginal lead," the announcer called, "And we're in lap twelve of twenty. I think this rookie is about to burn out!"

"In your dreams," the woman spoke as she followed the Toyota with her eyes.

Kai was growling by now, but he was still holding back marginally, let the rookie get over confident, at lap fifteen he was again leading by a nose. And it was going to get bigger, he could already see that the Toyota was losing grip, nimble as it was, doing such tight turns was difficult, even for him. But the driver was insane to go so close to the inside of the track where the turns were tightest, although the rewards could be greatest.

Lap eighteen, still in the lead Kai noticed the Toyota was losing speed and falling back, like a sprinter out of breath it was slow at first, but then as the lap progressed, he could only see the Toyota in his rear view window, the gap was wide and long.

"Red-Fox is running out of steam! Ghost will win again! What a machine, what endurance!" the announcer kept egging on.

At the end of lap nineteen there was at least a 40-foot rift between the two cars and it looked like victory was in the bag. But at the beginning to the final lap, Red-Fox was beginning to gain ground again and the rift began to close.

"Yea… that's it Charly, get him to think he won, this way… he wont fire the nitros like he usually does to win," the woman mumbled, continuing to watch the race perplexed.

The finish line was three hundred meters ahead, the final stretch. One hundred fifty… "And the winner is…" the announcer began, ready to declare Kai the winner. That's when Kai heard a loud boom. Looking in his rear view mirror he saw Red-Fox gaining fast, a plume of fire on his tail, it was evident the driver fired his nitros. The car was gaining fast, and before Kai could fire his own, the nimble Toyota overshot him. He reached for the nitros and fired them, kicking his car into 150 miles per hour turbo drive. But it was too late, the nimble Toyota crossed the finish line less than a second before him. In the lead by two feet of it's red nose.

"Unbelievable! The winner is Red-Fox!" The announcer screamed into the mike. The Toyota slowed down with screeching, smoking wheels and so did the GT. Cheers exploded from the spectators, "I don't believe it! Ghost! Beaten on the last stretch by two feet by a Toyota!" the news washed over Kai like a bucket of cold water. But to add an insult to injury, the rear sign of the Toyota scrolled 'The Ghostbusters are here!'

The woman smiled, "There you have it folks… don't underestimate Toyota's and crazy drivers like Charly, my job here… is done," with that said she mounted her bike and revved it's engine, leaving. Letting her friend collect the prize in peace.**__**

**Author Notes:** So this is just the first chapter of fic. I hope you liked the settings there. I personally like it as this is pretty much easy to write about. I got a few things to say…

**_First:_**_ If you guys don't mind a very-rare occasional Non-Yaoi semi-lime, tell me. Because this fic will kind of miss that bit there._

**_Second:_**_ I will only publish further chapters of this after I finish with CTS. So this is just a sneak preview. And if you need pictures of the cars the gang drives, just email me. I'll be happy to send pics._

**_Third:_**_ I want reviews people. Suggestions and ideas are also welcome here._


	2. Victory In Defeat

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** This is chapter 2… I know I said after I finished CTS. But I dunno… I just don't like to keep you guys in suspense that long.

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**_Chapter #2:_**_ Victory In Defeat_

Kai watched the car with mild anger. The driver, whoever he was very bold and annoyingly so.

"Will the drivers of the first three winners step out of their cars," A man spoke, Kai saw three men approach the cars. Kai unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, getting out. Behind him, another driver did the same. There was a murmur however because the red Celica's driver did not appear to be exiting. A second later the door opened and a figure got out.

Everyone stared, and continued staring. It was a woman, tall, with long brown hair that was tied back into a high ponytail from which two braids stemmed. She was wearing shades that concealed her eyes, now it made sense why she ran her headlights and fog lights during the race. She was clad in a loose leather jacket that barely reached her waist, a halter-top underneath it. The jacket was unzipped. She also had black jeans that hugged her hips and thighs and finally boots with low spike heels on her feet.

"I don't believe this," the driver behind him called.

"Red-Fox is a woman!" the announcer called. The woman lowered her shades, revealing her deep ember eyes as she glared murderously at the announcer. "Alright I guess it doesn't matter." The announcer corrected.

"Anyways, thanks Dee," another man on a headset microphone spoke, "Well Red-fox, here's your 1000$ and your complimentary six pack of beer," he continued pulling out a Ziploc bag of neatly wadded twenty dollar bills and held up a six pack of Guinness beer. The woman took it with a nod.

"Lets hear it for Red-Fox!" Dee called. Clapping and cheering was heard as people cheered, mainly men but a few women who were happy for their sister and didn't see her as a threat to their relationship with their boyfriends.

"Alright Dee thanks man, now lets move on. Ghost! Man it must suck for you to take second place, any words?" the cheerful prize-giver approached. Kai shook his head, through his peripheral vision he could see the woman watching him.

"Ghost is quiet tonight. And I do bet he'll be vanishing like one soon enough too," Dee joked, "Just give him the prize Mike," he added.

"Right, here you are Ghost," Mike, the prize-giver pulled out a six pack and a Ziploc bag, "500$ and your beer, better luck next time man. Don't worry; you're still our favorite. Just tune up that engine, and don't spare the nitros on the last stretch this time. You know we all love to see a blazing finish," Mike spoke.

"Good luck to ya ghost," Dee added. The crowd cheered again at that and as Kai glanced at the woman who seemed to be coming closer. "Yo, yo, yo! It seems Red-Fox has something to say to ghost," Dee called. Kai glanced at the woman as she approached.

"Ghost," she spoke, voice calm and emotionless.

"Red-Fox," Kai replied, biting out the name as if it was poison.

"Tough luck on the race hon," she spoke, raising the hand in which she held the beer she showed it to him, "Here, take this… I don't drink," she spoke.

"Whoa that never happened before," Mike spoke.

"No kidding Mike," Dee added.

Kai took the beer reluctantly and the woman turned away, she paused however and glanced over her shoulder at him, "See ya… spooky," she spoke only loud enough for him to hear. Walking back to her car she got inside and a second later drove off.

Kai watched her go; Dee and Mike were silent for once. That was until Mike woke up again, "Dee! Man she's playing for keeps, and she flirts too. So Ghost, any words?" Mike prompted again. Kai grabbed his prize and beer; the six packs were placed in the passenger seat of his car, getting in, he slammed the door behind him and a second later drove off.

Elsewhere, the woman stopped in an alley, turning off the engine of her car, she waited. A few minutes later a blue and black bike rode up. On it was a woman, she pulled off her helmet and shook out her long black hair. Red-Fox opened the door of her car.

"Hey Vega," she spoke.

"How did it go?" Vega asked, already knowing the answer but she wanted to see what her friend would say about it.

"I won, but not the way I wanted to win," Red-Fox replied.

"You fired the nitros, I was there, I saw it," Vega replied, "Charly I told you not to fire them! Why did you?"

"There was a problem in the engine, it began to stall, had I not fired them, I would've came in last," Charly replied. Vega nodded slowly; she didn't understand what could've gone wrong. "But when I did fire the nitros, the engine came back on full force, and lemme tell you this. Blasting in a space shuttle would've been easier on the G-force," Charly added.

"I'll take a look at the engine later, don't worry. Might be a faulty part that I got, I'll take care of that too," Vega glanced back over her shoulder. "So who is this Ghost?" she added.

"His name is Kai so I heard, a real firecracker. He's somewhat of an urban legend around these places; his temper is an urban legend of it own. And I do see why he is so popular with the women; he's quite the looker. But besides that… he's got nothing on me," Charly spoke in a tone that gave away none of her feelings, but Vega knew her, and that tone meant that Charly was concealing something. Vega however was not going to call her on her bluff without evidence.

"Alright, so what now?" Vega wondered.

"I don't know, how about we go to the club, I feel like relaxing, after my little brush with space-shuttle G's," Charly joked. Vega nodded and pulled on her helmet, Charly shut the door of her car and restarted the engine. The two drove off after a few seconds.

Elsewhere, Kai parked the car in the club parking lot. Letting the engine go dead he stopped to think of things that happened that night. Deciding this was no time to mull and brood over things he couldn't change he unbuckled and got out of the car, locking it up, not forgetting to set the alarm. A car like that would be a bounty, if one could steal it. Kai figured stealing it, every hood could do that, getting away with it, only he did that.

He glanced around the parking lot, some people were already eyeing his car; this is why he hated the club so much. Kai proceeded to the line up to get inside. Men stared at his car, women stared at him, it was always the same, and sure it was fun the first six months, now it was plainly tedious. Putting his hands in his pockets he felt an odd comfort from feeling the cold steel of his gun pressing into his back as the gun was tucked into the waistband of his jeans.

Soon enough he was inside, instantly spotting his rather 'colorful' friends, that and the fact that Rei's white jacket was practically glowing under the ultra-violet light of the club. It was huge, with a D.J on the stage, a large dance floor, loud music blaring, mostly rap and some techno, the usual beats of the 'hood. Lights were swirling over the dance floor, setting the mood. Although what was happening on the dance floor, Kai would hardly call that dancing. The favorite thing seemed to be grinding, and moves that looked far too intimate to watch.

"Hey Kai! Congratulations on another win!" Tyson called as soon as he was within an earshot of him. Kai however didn't reply, instead he slumped at the empty seat at the table.

"I took second," he finally spoke.

"What?" Max was surprised.

"You heard me, I was beaten. By a woman," Kai replied. His three friends exchanged looks.

"You're pulling our legs, you, beaten by a woman? What did you do, fall asleep on the wheel on lap eighteen?" Tyson asked, his tone was joking, but the glare Kai sent his way was not. "Ouch… chill, I'm kidding," Tyson added hastily.

"What was she driving? A Ferrari Enzo?" Max asked.

"No, she was driving a pathetic Toyota Celica, but its engine roared like a Ferrari Enzo, she's got some hell of a mechanic, maybe she's her own mechanic," Kai replied.

"That's cool, she must have a head on her shoulders if she beat you, not like all the other woman wonnabes out there," Rei spoke up finally. Kai ignored his words in favor of glancing at the door. He really didn't want to be here, usually after he won, he came here for a drink and to relax a little. But tonight it was different, not only because he lost, but also because he lost to someone he never saw before. Kai liked to think he knew all the racers in the 'hood. But Red-Fox was a rookie, a lucky rookie.

"I don't care what she has," Kai suddenly spoke, stopping the hushed conversation he didn't realize his three friends were having, "I'm still going to beat her at the next race, no one makes a mockery out of me and lives to tell about it." With that he got up and began to walk out of the club. He had work to do, mainly try and squeeze a bit more speed out of his engine. Or maybe work a little on his reaction time, and next week he knew, he would warm up properly, trial laps and all.

Meanwhile, outside at the parking lot. The Celica pulled up, the woman on the bike behind it. Both vehicle engines died as Charly exited the car and locked it up. She put a hand on the hood of the car, it was hot, and the engine was overworked. "Vega, what could be the problem?" she asked, the last thing she needed was for the Celica to fail to the point that Vega couldn't fix it. The 'hood didn't have many decent mechanics; she didn't want them getting the secret of her engine out.

"It might be the engine itself, it's no the Celica's original engine. So like a slightly mismatched transplanted organ, it isn't working quite right. I told you Charly, I'll take care of it, and I'll have the patient feeling peachy in no time."

"I know it might be the engine, but is there a specific part that might be causing this problem?" Charly glanced around the parking lot as she leaned in closer to her friend, "Ferrari engines are designed to withstand this kind of stress for Christ sakes! Just because the shell is a Toyota doesn't mean it should flux this badly!" she spoke.

"Might be the intake not being large enough, Ferrari engines are hard to cool, when you fired the nitros, more air was coming in, the engine cooled a little and kicked back in. I'll see if I can expand the intake," Vega spoke.

"Alright thanks," Charly moved away that is when she spotted five hoods. Who were examining a car a little too close. After a few seconds she realized the car was familiar.

"Just so you know, Hikaru and Lilly are coming back from their little 'assignment' tomorrow. Takara is also coming back after her visit to her uncle in Detroit," Vega spoke, not looking where Charly was staring off at.

"Thanks for the heads up Vega," Charly mumbled. She sat back on the hood of the Toyota, "Over there, see those five?" she added.

"Hmm?" Vega turned around, spotting the five hoods. "Yea? Hey wait a minute… isn't that Kai's car?"

"Yep, that's it, one of a kind around here, cool car if you ask me. The guy got quite a taste and it's undoubtedly stolen. I doubt he has one hundred fifty grand for it," Charly replied.

"So what about it?" Vega wondered.

"You got one of your homing bugs?" Charly asked. Vega glanced at her, catching her smirk, she shook her head and rummaged through her pockets, pulling out a small black object with a tiny antennae.

Charly took it from her hands, "Now all I need is for Kai to shoo away those hoods, I know how to get it on there," Charly spoke. As if on cue she saw Kai exit the club, hands in his pockets.

Kai spotted the hoods; one was now sitting on the hood of his car. The all were smoking something, and being down-wind Kai could tell it wasn't tobacco. He approached the five of them.

"What do you want?" One asked.

"For you five to get our grubby hands off _my_ car," Kai replied coldly.

"Your car huh?" another hood spoke, he reached behind his back and pulled out a knife, "Well it's ours now, so fork over the keys buddy," he spoke. Kai just stood there, one hand sliding behind his back for his gun.

Charly saw all of this, "This isn't good," she spoke, slowly as if not to let the hoods notice her, who she was surprised they didn't before, 'must be the crack,' she thought. The girl opened the car of her Celica and reached into the rear seat, pulling out what looked like hip holsters, like those of Lara Croft, she hastily snapped them on. Before closing the door, "Watch the Celica Vega," she told her friend.

"So you forking the keys or not man?" another hood spoke. This one had a gun.

"Fork over the Guinness at least," a third spoke.

"He aint forking over anything boys, so beat it before I turn you all into bloody nets, and it will really be a shame to stain the car with your blood," a feminine voice spoke. There were two clicks of guns being cocked.

"Get a load of this! He has a chick with guns!" one hood spoke, Kai pulled out his own gun and raised it.

"Brave aren't ya now?" the hoods didn't appear to be going anywhere.

Laser dots appear on two hoods foreheads as Kai glanced back, surprised to see Red-Fox standing there, two automatic guns in her hands held high, laser-guided targeting was a rarity, but this woman seemed to love rare things. The effect of the thigh holsters on her and the hair style also made her look like Lara Croft, a damn good look-a-like at that.

"I'm giving you to the count of five before I blow your brains, or crown jewels out. But seeing as both of them are in the same place, it really doesn't matter which, now does it?" she spoke in a cold tone as the laser dots moved down.

"Ow babe! We're going! We're going!" the gutsy hoods ran off, taking their drugs and alcohol with them. She spun the guns on her index fingers and tucked them into their respective holders, "Idiots… I haven't had a bullet in these things for weeks now," she spoke quietly. "Snap that jaw shut hon, before you swallow a fly," she added.

Kai shook his head and put away his semi-automatic, "What the hell were you thinking doin' that?" he asked.

"I was saving your ass, that's what the hell I was doin'," she replied.

"I did not and do not need your help," Kai replied gruffly. The woman shrugged, Kai didn't see her shift the homing bug from her sleeve into her hand as she pushed a small button with her nail, activating the bug. She turned to his car and approached the machine, slyly sitting down on its hood, much to Kai's anger.

"It looked like you did, I'm sorry… I did not realize you were suicidal," she spoke. One hand idly sliding slowly back, as if slipping, to the car's indented intakes, she slid two fingers under the flat of metal and felt the bug adhere to the intake inner surface. Her hands remained there, looking as if she was gripping on it to keep from sliding back any more. For effect she crossed her legs.

"Get off, my car isn't a couch for your lounging," Kai bit at her.

"Touchy aren't you?" she asked, sliding off never the less, she had no reason to sit on it anymore, having planted the bug. She approached him, close, to the point that they stood almost toe-to-toe. "Careful with the car hon, it's a real piece of art. You don't want it getting stolen," she spoke with a small grin on her features, "See ya," with that she walked away, braids flapping behind her as she moved.

Kai watched her go, now it made sense why she took so long to come out of the car on the racetrack, with those holsters on her tights. He glanced at the hood of the car and suppressed an urge to groan, it had fingerprints all over it; the hoods have poked and prodded it everywhere they could without setting off the alarms too early.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this is chapter 2. As Callie so put it… I have now 10 Chapters of this on my hard drive. So I can post them up slowly for you. Oh and nobody, I know you mean well. But this is still my story, and it is still better than some of 'em out there._


	3. Outfoxed

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Vega has a brush in with the sixth member of Kai's gang, take a wild guess who!

**__**

**_Chapter #3:_**_ Outfoxed_

Vega watched all of this with a smirk on her face. She couldn't believe her friend would be that bold, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the tracking mechanism. On the small screen there was a set of co-ordinates, GPS co-ordinates of the location of the beacon. She only had to type the co-ordinates into a GPS tracker and she would have the location.

"Charly you are something," she spoke.

"Done," Charly spoke as she approached.

"I must admit Charly, that was some performance you put up," Vega spoke as the two turned their backs on the parking lot.

"What's the range on the bug?" Charly wondered.

"That particular one is a GPS bug, as long as he's above ground, we'll know where he is," Vega explained.

"Excellent, the next step of the plan would be to get into Kai's good books, that of course is easier said than done," Charly spoke.

"You can say that again, he is about as paranoid as the any gangster, except a few ties worse. I wouldn't be surprised if he really didn't trust his own gang," Vega mounted her bike, revving up the engine.

"Lets go, you want to go inside or not?" Vega asked.

"No reason now, things have worked out a little better than I could've wished for," Charly explained, she opened the door of her Celica and climbed inside.

"Charly?" Vega paused pulling on her helmet, "be careful now, those hoods… once they sober up and get off the crack high, they can come after you."

"Don't worry…" Charly motioned to the guns strapped on her thighs, "Unless they're suicidal, I don't think they'll come after me." With that said she turned on the engine of the Celica and shut the door with a slam of the door, a second later the car drove out with screeching wheels. Vega pulled on her helmet and revved up her bike, following her friend.

Kai watched them closely, he couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he knew it was something that had to do with him. It was a nagging feeling. He glanced at the car where Red-fox sat, then he glanced at the intakes of his car. Something told him that there was something going on. And that Red-Fox wasn't just your regular gang member. Opening the door of the car he climbed inside and a second later drove off, completely unaware that somewhere, Vega was watching the movements of his car on the GPS tracker.

Charly drove the streets of the neighborhood, making sure that no one was following her. She approached an old building, it was run down, paint was peeling off, and there was a window or two on which duct tape covered holes and cracks. The building had small garage-shop-like doors, which showed the garage. Glancing into her rearview mirrors she made sure that no one was following her. She pulled out a small remote; she triggered the garage doors to open as she drove inside. Barely inside she noticed that in the garage, three cars stood. Her three friends were back this caused her to smile.

"Charly!" a voice called as she got out of the car.

"Hey Lilly, how did things go?" Charly asked, looking at the girl. Lilly was a petite woman with long blond hair and Prussian blue eyes. She was dressed in a slimming conservative fashion with slimming light blue jeans that hugged her hips and thighs and flared at the bottom a little, she also wore white sketchers with glitter. On top she wore a snug tee shirt and a loose windbreaker jacket. Her hair was done a single braid hanging down her back, it reached to just about her butt.

"Things went fine, Vega called. She told me about your little race, congratulations," Lilly spoke.

"Thanks sis," Charly pulled off her jacket and stretched out her muscles.

"Oh and Charly, just for the record, you do remember that we weren't sent here to fraternize," Lilly pointed out.

"Are you suggesting something?" Charly glanced at her friend.

"No, nothing, just keep in mind that we do not need to get attached to anyone who is an outsider. We do not need to see our mission compromised by rampant emotions," Lilly spoke.

"I know what you mean Lilly, and don't worry. Like I told Vega, he's got nothing on me. And last time I checked… looks weren't a weapon that worked on me," with that said Charly walked into the building that was connected to the garage. Lilly watched her go; she glanced at the red Celica and then at where her friend vanished into the room. She followed her friend inside.

Vega meanwhile found herself on the roof of a small abandoned gas station on the abandoned side of the neighborhood. In her hands she held the tracker and a GPS map on which she had a marker bleeping, showing the location of the co-ordinates she input from the tracker.

"So this is your base huh?" she whispered, looking at the building through a pair of binoculars. The building was run down, but as Vega watched closer, she noticed telltale signs of life. There was some light coming from the window in the back, and from the garage. She was so intently focused on the building that she didn't notice a shadow drift over her.

The figure behind the girl smirked; reaching into his jacket he pulled out a gun; the woman was yet to notice him, even with him hovering right over her.

Vega felt something cold and round press against her temple, "who are you? And why the hell are you spying on that building?" a voice asked. Vega heard a click; she realized that the object in question was a gun.

"Why do you care?" Vega asked she remained frozen to the spot, afraid that whoever this was, would pull the trigger.

"I live here, that's why I care," The man hissed.

"How about you take the gun away from my head and we talk face to face," Vega bargained.

"Fine, but get up slowly," the gun moved away from her temple and Vega rose to her feet slowly, turning around. She found herself face to face with a tall man; he was dressed in jeans with black shoes, a black tee and a black leather jacket. On his hands were black leather gloves with metal plates sawn on the knuckles. They overlapped to allow him to move his fingers freely, but they were studded, making any punch from him hurt a few times worse. His hair was bright red, and his eyes, a stunning contrast of ice blue. They were cold and set into a completely emotionless mask.

"There, better no?" Vega spoke cockily. Her hand reached back, if only she could grab her own gun now.

"Much," his voice was sarcastic.

"Who are you anyways?" Vega wondered she knew that no one would be coming to her rescue, so she was on her own. Suddenly the option of playing submissive looked good, as long as he didn't pull that trigger practically anything was better.

"Who I am is none of your business. But what the hell are you doing here is my business, now if you don't want me to blow your brains out, you'll spill," the man spoke.

"Well aren't you bossy, I don't take orders from no-names," Vega protested, folding her arms, this served to further anger the thug.

"Listen bitch, I don't take bull from no-names, so either you spill… or I spill your blood, got it?" The gun was in her face now, Vega gulped, and he wasn't playing around. She let her hands drop to her sides as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The man watched her, he was surprised by that, was she really going to keep quiet and allow him to shoot her? He found his trigger finger went numb; he couldn't pull the trigger for the first time in a long while.

In a swift motion Vega grabbed his hand, ducking low she rotated. Before he could respond she elbowed him in the gut and yanked the gun free of his grip. In a second it was in his face, "Never… think I'm giving up," she hissed.

His hand was on his stomach where she elbowed him, it happened so fast he wasn't sure what exactly happened, her speed was like that of a striking cobra, what she was, was very well trained, "Damn…" he cursed loudly.

"So cough it up punk, what's your name," Vega insisted.

"Wolf," he ground out from between his teeth.

"Sting, would say it was a pleasure… but I'd be lying," Vega replied with a smirk.

"Now what the hell are you doing here?" Wolf demanded, even being at gunpoint he didn't seem to lose his chauvinistic edge.

"None of your business, by the way… I should get going, and cowboy… thanks for the new gun," with that she walked off.

"Hey wait a minute!" Wolf grabbed her shoulders roughly as she tried to get past him, "You aren't going anywhere."

"You think there is something you can do to stop me?" Sting replied, "don't make me laugh." His hold on her shoulders only tightened, Vega found this annoying, for some reason he didn't seem to be afraid of her, and that was a first. She still had his gun, and it didn't make sense to her, why would he risk getting shot, or could he somehow feel her hesitance to pull the trigger. Her finger idly slid down to the butt end of the semi-auto, where she found a gap. There was no clip in the gun, it was unarmed and suddenly everything made sense.

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

"Lets just say my friend has a bone to pick with your friend, I can only assume you're one of Ghost's buddies," sting replied.

"I don't know how you found this place, but you're sure as hell are not going to be leaving to spill it's location to whoever pays you high enough," Wolf ignored her reply, for he already knew why she would be here, it was like a gut feeling in his stomach.

"Who the hell do you take me for? Some street slut?" Vega demanded her fist balled at her side, she was ready to slug him, but decided against it.

"That's what you probably are," Wolf didn't speak anymore; instead he reached behind his back and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. While one hand was off her shoulder Vega saw her opportunity, she bolted. The movement caught him by surprise and he gave chase. Vega was faster however and in about a minute she reached her bike, jamming the keys into the ignition she was barely on as the engine came to life. Dropping Wolf's dead semi-auto on the ground in five seconds flat she rode off, wheels screeching, the front wheel of the bike threatened to lift off the ground for a second.

Wolf cursed, picking up his mud-stained gun, his own car was in the hide out garage, he had no hopes of catching her. But he wondered how she found them; he knew that she couldn't have followed Rei, Tyson or Max on the account that they were still at the club. Kai was back, but he was being very careful, and himself, he didn't leave the base for anything short of a heist, it was just by chance he was out and spotted her spying on the roof across the street.

He walked into the base hands dug into his pockets, he glanced at Kai's GT, there had to be a plausible explanation to how she found them it sure wasn't that she followed Kai. 'That or he finally slipped,' Wolf thought. He entered the living room area of the base; spotting the aforementioned leader of the gang he was polishing his semi-automatic.

"Hey Kai, I just caught some bitch spying on this place from across the street. Tall, black hair, deep blue eyes. You know anyone like that?" Wolf asked. Kai glanced at him. He didn't recall anyone by that description. "You might wonna check your wheels for a bug, I don't know how else she would've found this place," with that wolf walked away. Kai got up, walking to the garage he glanced at the car, a bug could've been planted and he wouldn't have known better.

Idly he approached the hood of the car and glanced at it's cooling intakes, a memory of that woman, Red-fox sitting on the hood flashed in his mind, now that he thought about it, she could've slipped the bug, because the other friend he saw her with, matched the brief description his 'friend', if one could call Wolf that, gave him. Reaching inside the intakes he passed his fingers along the inside rim. They were smooth, if somewhat sooty, Kai made a note to clean them up as well. A second later his fingers connected with something small, round, and apparently it had an antennae. He pulled it out and looked at it. There on his palm lay a small GPS transmitter.

Kai glared at it, 'Red-Fox,' he hissed the name in his mind, how could he have been that stupid. She slipped the bug on his car and he didn't even bother to check. But he had to admit; the girl has quick fingers and a sharp mind to pull that off without rousing his suspicion in the first place. "Smooth one Red-Fox… real smooth, but… don't think you've gotten away with this," Kai spoke to himself, dropping the bug he crushed it under his foot, making sure it was very broken up.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this chapter 3… stick around to find out what will happen next, and trust me… it wont be what you expect!_


	4. Confrontations Part 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** The guys get into trouble, and the plot thickens. You'll have to read to find out! So buckle up!

**__**

**_Chapter #4:_**_ Confrontations [Part 1]_

Vega found Charly in the living room of their hideout. The other three girls were also there. Lilly being one of them, next to her sat a tall brunette with deep blue eyes; her long dark hair was tied in a single braid draped over her shoulder. She wore a classy sport look with baggy jeans and comfortable sneakers. Chains decorated the jeans; on top she had a hoodie sweater.

Next to her sat a tall girl with nearly black hair, she had cobalt blue eyes. Her hair was swept back into a high ponytail, the tendrils fell split to the front, forming a sort of a mane. She wore loose fitting cargo pants and skater shoes, a black tee shirt with the words _"I live in my own little world, but that's okay...They know me here."_ In small type that was nearly unreadable. Around her neck she had a black studded leather choker.

"Hey Hikaru, Takara, Lilly… you're back early," Vega spoke.

"What can I say, the boss let us off the hook early," Hikaru replied.

"My plane from Detroit was forwarded by twelve hours… it was hell down at the airport, because I only got like two hours notice to pack everything and get on it," Takara muttered.

"Ouch, man that has to bite…" Charly voiced.

"No more than this, you know the bug you put on Ghost's car?" Vega began, at that everyone looked up at her.

"Yea what about it?" Charly was instantly curious what he friend had to report.

"I traced it back to where it stopped moving. I know where their hide out is. But before I could find out anything more, I had a little brush in with one of Kai's thugs. Lets just saw I sure as hell am glad that guy is so cocky he brought an unloaded gun, or I'd be dead," Vega replied.

"And here we thought only Charly was that cocky," Lilly joked.

"That's not all, the bug's signal went dead about ten minutes later. I think that thug warned his boss and Kai found the bug," Vega added.

"That's alright, we have the information we need," Charly folded her arms as Vega dug around in the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a small leaf note-pad, sort of like the type police officers use. She opened a certain page and showed the group the hastily scribbled address there.

"So what's our plan next?" Takara wondered.

"Nothing for now, we need to lie low, let the atmosphere cool. I'm usually all for the strike the metal while it is hot, but right now… we don't want to do that. We need to await further instructions from the boss," Charly replied.

"Right, well… Charly I'm going to take a look at your car now, see if there is anything I can do," With hands dug in the pockets of her jeans Vega walked back to the garage.

"So Charly, who is this new guy you have a trace on?" Hikaru wondered. Charly glanced at the clock on the wall, it said midnight, and she figured she could sleep during the day, like most thugs. So she began to tell the tale that her friends missed.

"Oh he sounds cute!" Takara spoke with a grin when he friend finished.

"This has nothing to do with how he looks Takara, the reason I'm so interested in him is because at first glance, he's like every other thug out there. He dresses like it, talks like it, hell he even looks it… but deep down, there is something different. I don't know why, but I feel like he's a little above the everyday thug. This one looks like he has some shred of morals; probably a guy with tough life dragged himself down here as the last resort to make some living. I don't know why, but I just feel bad for guys like that," Charly voiced. Her three friends nodded slowly, unsurely, but didn't comment.

"Oh I just remembered!" Hikaru suddenly voiced, "The boss wants to see ya… he has something or other to talk about you. Leader to leader, he wouldn't tell us, the grunts of this operation as he called us, anything! Not a word!"

Kai meanwhile stepped into his room, which was more along the lines of a den as it was very sparsely decorated, just the bare necessities. However it had a few necessities, a modest library, and a laptop. In his hands he held the remains of the GPS bug, the thing looked complex even to him. Taking a few steps across the room he sat before his own laptop and raised the screen, turning the device on he waited for the thing to finish booting up.

'Real big tactical error red fox, placing the bug in such a conspicuous place,' Kai thought to himself. With a few clicks of the keys he brought up the schematics for a series of GPS bugs, looking to identify the bug and get a clue who was Red-fox working for. The bug bore no identification markings like most official bugs had, he knew LAPD used GPS bugs and he considered the possibility, but he also knew that they bore LAPD insignias inside to identify themselves, this one had no insignia, no serial number, no make, or model. It was as if the bug was made to be a phantom, or it was made by someone with some know how of the technology out of spare parts.

Within ten minutes he had ruled out the possibility that the bug was federal or law-enforcement official made bug, the cops were dumb enough to stick their insignia on the thing even in undercover jobs, one just had to know where to look. But the LAPD bug schematic was haunting him, there was unmistakable likeness in the two bugs, although they were different in built. They were also strangely similar, Kai idly wondered if that was intentional to draw attention away from her. But on Kai it worked quite the other way around, it made him seriously doubt whether or not this Red Fox, whoever she was, was a cop or agent undercover. Leaving the bug on the table he got up, pulling out his keys, leaving the room and locking it up.

Kai walked down the hall to the room deepest in the base, the door was partially ajar and inside was a boy, younger than the rest of them. Big round glasses and brown hair, his bangs totally concealed his eyes as he leaned over a computer, fast typing away. He wore an uncustomary official look for this part of town. With pressed pants and shoes, a shirt and a loose tie.

"Kenny," Kai made his presence known as the boy looked up.

"Oh hey Kai, give me just a second here, I'm almost done…" with that said Kai waited, not five seconds later the boy turned his attention back to the leader, "What bring you here?"

"I need you to hack into the LAPD files and see if you can find anything on anyone named 'Red-Fox' I have my suspicions of her," Kai explained.

"Oh her? Tyson told me about your little brush in with the girl at the racetrack, sure… to be frank, I went ahead and already began a trace. So far nada… it's as if she doesn't exist, it would help if I had a picture, but so far. There is nothing, no ID or fingerprints, it's as if she doesn't exist," Kenny explained. This did not settle well with Kai, he didn't like it. "Of course I'm not done yet, I will tell you when I'm done," Kenny hurried to add.

"Is there any possibility she might be an agent?" Kai wondered.

"FBI maybe, they don't let their undercover agents roam freely though. And there is nothing I can do about that, hacking into police databases is easy, hacking into FBI databases is tricky and hard to do, even for me," Kenny supplied. Kai didn't like this at all, now he was really suspicious of the motives the girl has, maybe she was an FBI agent, it would explain the bugs. Federal agents liked to keep their eyes on people, but he wondered why she went after his gang, they weren't the worst out there on the street. Far from the worst, in a year or so he's been in the hood, not once has he actually shot someone, pulling out the gun on self-defense was one thing, seriously wanting to put someone who bothered him out of the picture was a whole other ball game.

"Alright thanks Kenny, tell me immediately if you find anything at all, if that woman is up to something, and I want to know what," With that said Kai walked out of the room. Kenny shook his head and resumed his work.

The next morning, Charly stepped into the garage of their hideout, yawning widely. She spotted Lilly and Hikaru, who were working on their precious 'babies'. Lilly's car was a Mitsubishi Eclipse with a paint job that could only be described as 'oil slick' it was of all rainbow colors, depending at which angle the florescent lights above hit. The thing had a large spoiler and yellow neon lights under its rims.

Hikaru's car was a Ford Focus, colored in black, with red lightning bolts on the sides. It had red Neon lights on the rims, and a large dual spoiler that reminded everyone the tail of a plane.

"Where's Vega?" Charly asking, noting that he car was in 'dry dock', it's hood raised, and it looked like Vega has made some preparations on expanding the cooling intake of the machine.

"She went over to Bart's… he said he had a cooling intake for you, this one goes on top of your hood and expands when your racing, he said he had it made back when he first transplanted the engine. But seeing as Vega had insisted that the intake was enough already, he remained quiet," Lilly explained.

"Trust Bart to screw up your life," Charly muttered.

Elsewhere, Tyson, Rei, and Max were browsing around the local grocery store. It wasn't a big grocery store; it was more of a 'tuck shop' material, small in size, with a very vigilant shop owner who undoubtedly had a shotgun loaded under the counter. His Doberman pincher dog also was watching the three of them, with something akin to hatred in his beady black eyes.

Suddenly gunshots erupted from outside. The three of them exchanged glances and paused before moving with whatever they had towards the counter. The shop owner was watching the door wearily.

"That isn't the first time I hear those blasted punks firing away," the shop owner commented. His dog seemed to growl angrily. "Alright, that's be twenty bucks, anything else I can get you?" the man asked.

"Nah, we're cool," Tyson pulled out a twenty and threw it on the counter, grabbing their back they exited the shop to see three thugs had guns out, they were standing just barely out of the alley across the street.

"That's what you get for messing with us man!" One shouted.

"C'mon man! Let's go… he's dead already!" another spoke. The three began to run off, the last thug. The calmest of the tree, spotted the three observers. When they were gone, Tyson was first to run into the alley. It wasn't the cleanest alley, it stunk of garbage, but now the stench was also masked with the scent of fresh human blood.

In the alley, against the black wall was a man, a single bullet-hole in his forehead. Behind his head, on the wall was a blood drag mark; it wasn't surprising that the man was shot while standing up.

"Lets go… the police will be here soon, we don't want to be cough here," Rei warned.

"Right, and we better tell Kai what we saw. This way we'll be ready for anything," Max added. The three ran to their cars. Max's car was a yellow BMW M3 Coupe; it had a spoiler that was larger than that of the original car's spoiler. It didn't look too different from the factory-made BMW. Rei had a silvery Toyota Supra, a beautiful car with a large rear spoiler, yet elegant Toyota curves. Giving the car an elegant personality, yet the roar of its engine showed the hidden spirit and raw power of the car. The three drove off as was as they could, just as police sirens became heard.

**_Author Notes:_**_ This is part 4 of DG… The plot thickens!_


	5. Confrontations Part 2

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Things start happening, and none of those things are good. Or so it seems!

**__**

**_Chapter #5:_**_ Confrontations [Part 2]_

The three of them returned to their home base. Quickly putting their 'groceries' that consisted mainly of frozen half-ready microwaveable food in the fridge before they entered the living space. Tala was lounging on the couch, watching a more than violent movie on the TV.

"Where's Kai?" Rei wondered.

"No clue," Tala replied, not taking his eyes off the movie. On the screen a woman was pretty much kicking the stuffing out of the main character.

"Aren't you mister helpful," Tyson muttered. Tala glanced at him with a murderous glare in his crystal eyes.

"Don't give me lip idiot, the only reason I'm tolerating you is because I can control my temper. Don't take it as a sign of weakness," Tala replied.

"Back off you two, this is no time to fight," Kai's voice cut though the tension in the room. Tala grunted something and returned to watching his movie.

"There you are Kai," Tyson was practically hopping from foot to foot, "There is something we have to tell you."

Tala meanwhile grew weary of the movie he was watching and turned to the news channel, just in time to catch the latest news. On the screen the reporter was talking.

"Today, we bring you the latest shooting from the suburbs." This caught everyone's attention and they turned to the screen. "Just an hour ago in the east of the city, in the ghetto parts. A man was shot dead in an outburst of gang violence. Although this is not the first such shooting, this death bringing the total to ten dead people in gang violence. This murder is the first to happen in plain daylight," the reporter added. Then the screen flickered to show the crime scene, it didn't show it in detail as investigators were still blocking the camera's view. "The latest shooting is alleged to have witnesses that have yet to step foreword. A local shop owner spoke up that he heard the gunshots. More details are yet to be released, stay tuned for further development. This is Cecelia Kain with the top news, back to you Kevin for the international news," the rubric switched to another reporter as he began to speak of news that was happening across the county and globe.

"That was in this neighborhood," Tala commented.

"No shit! We were there! We heard the gunshots! Hell we have seen the body!" Tyson was ready to burst now.

"What?" Kai was instantly on alarm, he didn't want anything to do with the cops. Especially when his three most trusted people could be suspects.

"We even know who it was, we seen the thugs who shot the man. They didn't wear masks, it was the Black Diamond gang, and I'm sure of that," Max added. This caused Kai to frown, the roughest of the gangs. The Black Diamonds were seven guys who didn't have anything below them. Rape, murder, drugs, alcohol, gambling, stealing, burglary, armed robbery, you name it they did it, and if someone paid them enough they would do your dirty job for you too.

"This is not good," Tala sat up from his lounging on the couch.

"Did they see you?" Kai demanded, his voice took on a cold edge, he was not so easy-going anymore, and things just took a nosedive.

"Unfortunately… yes," Tyson mumbled, he knew the three of them blew it. And blew it big, the Black Diamonds weren't lenient and could potentially come after them.

"Lets just hope those three grunts didn't recognize us, they ran by pretty fast. And only the slowest of the three saw us, I think he was a rookie, because I didn't see him before anywhere previously," Rei voiced.

"Alright, from now on we're lying low. We don't want anyone to find us yet. It's bad enough Tala tells me Red Fox and her gang knows of this place. Although there is no evidence of their association with the Black Diamonds, we do not know how easily she is brought," Kai explained.

"That is why it would make sense to ask her to help us, instead of risking her being brought as you say," Kenny's voice floated over the group. The short boy stood in the doorway; he was perfectly calm about things.

"I much rather kill those seven Black Diamonds that cooperate with those two wenches," Tala grumbled.

"Five, here… I found this in the police records. It's an old case, happened a year ago. No suspects were ever found and evidence was minimal, so the case hit a dead end. But here is a bit that might interest you," Kenny handed paper and two printed pictures to Kai.

On the paper was data about the case. A bank robbery that happened in LA a year ago, Kai remembers that bank robbery. The suspects were said to be five women. They came in and left so fast with the cash that the police came only five minutes after they already left, but one piece of evidence was strange, in red spray paint, the following night a fox claw mark appeared on the glass of the bank, with the words "Red Fox will be back," under it. The investigators never found anything, no fingerprints, no foot prints, no tire marks. And cameras were useless because a sharp shooter managed to shoot them out even before the girls entered the bank, effectively causing chaos at the time, so that the police were alerted too late.

"Are you sure these are the same women?" Tala wondered.

"Positive," Kenny replied.

"So we know where they got the expensive cars now," Max spoke up.

"Look at this way, they know our secret, we know theirs, they sell us… we sell them, and I doubt they want to spend time in jail for that. And besides… I think if they are half as smart as a robbery of this caliber demands, they will know that selling us to the Black Diamonds would be putting nooses around our necks. I don't know about you, but I think we have even more profit now with a temporary alliance," Tyson piped up.

Kai folded his arms, he wondered if the Red Fox he had insight on, was she even the same Red-Fox from the robbery, somehow he didn't see her doing something as cliché as robbing a bank. But he also knew that like it or not, he now had a reason to find that woman and have a long talk with her. Maybe she knew more than she let on.

"Alright, we probably have some time before the Black Diamonds try anything. In the meanwhile, I want you guys to lay low. Before any alliance is made, I want to have a talk with Red-Fox and confirm this data," Kai knew from now on had to wear a bullet proof vest, and no longer could he afford to carry an unloaded gun until either the Black-Diamonds got caught, or they could put them out of the picture. He was willing to sell them off himself by sending an anonymous tip to the police, but that would take some time to think through and organize.

Elsewhere, Charly and her friends also saw the news broadcast her arms were folded as silence settled on the group.

"Another murder… they are no longer as careful to cover up their tracks," Lilly spoke.

"Right… this could be the big break when they finally snap. And when they finally get caught, one less slime gang in this neighborhood," Charly replied.

"Anything we're going to do Charly?" Hikaru wondered.

"There is nothing we can do, it is not our mission to bust every single gang here. But from now on, we need to be vigilant. There are bound to be suspicions in the neighborhood. We need to make sure that none are directed at us, and that no innocents are hurt. We need to go down and have a small chat with the local shop owner witness, I doubt he will keep quiet," Charly spoke.

"Charly, I finished installing the new intake, Bart is a miracle worker! He even blended the paint correctly, you're going to like this," Vega spoke, she just finished installing the new upgrade and Charly was eager to see the results. She stepped into the garage and noticed the Celica, on its hood was the brand new intake, and it was larger than the previous one.

"Is it ready?" Charly asked.

"Yes… the installation was easy, but I have yet to test it. It may not help much," Vega spoke. Charly raised her hand and Vega shrugged, giving her the keys. A minute later she was off.

On the other side of town, the three thugs returned to their base of operations. The leading stooge approached their boss who sat on at his desk.

"So how did it go," he demanded.

"We have good… and bad news sir," the thug spoke.

"Go on," the leader commented.

"Duke has been put out of the picture. But we had three witnesses. However we know who they are, the three stooges of Casper," the thug reported.

"Well this is good, Ghost has been a pain on more necks than I can count."

"With all due respect Tom, but you are talking about the biggest, most popular racer in the neighborhood, people will wonder where he went," the thug protested.

"No one will wonder for long, don't worry. I have a way of making their disappearance appear just random," Tom responded.

"Oh I don't know boss," the grunt walked off, unsure of this latest plan.

Elsewhere, Kai was looking for any sign of the red Celica. But not too successfully, he wasn't having much luck. And it was infuriating when time was of the essence. Kai almost gave up on the search when he saw the Celica, parked by a garage. The hood was raised and a man was looking under it. Kai almost smirked, so she wasn't he own mechanic. Stopping his GT he got out. Red Fox was standing by the wall, leaning on it. Watching the mechanic, as Kai drew closer he could make out the conversation.

"… Vega's handy work, excellent as always. This engine is as well maintained and cleaned as the day I installed it," The mechanic spoke. Bart was a tall guy, with short spiked up black hair and almost gentle brown eyes. He wore messy overalls and a utility belt with a series of tools on it. Kai could only smirk as they were yet to notice him, so the engine wasn't the car's original engine, he already suspected that. "Did you hear about the shooting today?" the mechanic continued.

"Yea… and I damn well know who did it Bart, they always do it… those Black-Diamonds think they're all that," Red-Fox replied, "Now I only need to wait a couple of days… I know where their base is, it's all…" at that she stopped and paused.

"What's wrong?" Bart wondered.

"Come out Casper, I know you're there," Red-Fox spoke. Kai paused, but revealed himself. Bart moved his head from under the hood.

"Oh hey Ghost," he spoke in a friendly matter.

"You know him Bart?" Red Fox asked surprised.

"Sure I do, the finest wheels in the 'hood, who doesn't?" Bart replied, wiping his hands on a rug that hung from the back pocket of his greasy overalls.

"What brings you here Casper?" Red Fox cocked her head to the side. Kai felt irked at her latest name, but at least it wasn't 'Spooky' that name was degrading.

"We need to talk," Kai replied. Charly smirked about something all of the sudden.

"Hmm… well alright," she spoke. "Bart can we talk inside?" she glanced at the mechanic who nodded before going back under the hood again.

"I think I might change your oil, I don't like the condition its in," Bart mumbled.

"Knock yourself out Bart, I don't mind having clean oil," With that said Charly led Kai inside.

"All right Casper, spill," Charly prompted. Kai didn't know how to begin, so he decided better pressure her now, and tell her later.

"I know you heard about the shootings today, I want to know how much you know," Kai demanded gruffly, voice cold and emotionless. Not giving away anything.

"I know things," Red Fox replied.

"What sort of 'things'," Kai was growing annoyed at her skirting around the topic.

"What is it to you?" Charly didn't like being questioned; she especially didn't like being questioned by thugs.

"I have my reasons," Kai replied, this wasn't going anywhere this woman was infuriatingly stubborn. But it was her stubborn streak that made her seem different from other women he ever knew.

"Well… if you're going to be secretive, I'm afraid the information stays with me," Charly replied, a grin of a Chesher cat on her face. She noted the bulletproof vest on him, and the fact that he didn't even bother trying to conceal that he was armed to the teeth. From this she judged he was feeling threatened. "Tell me Casper, what's with the sudden urge to drag info out of me?" she asked.

"I want to know if you know anything on the Black-Diamonds," Kai replied.

"Hmm… first you ask about the shootings, now about those seven punks… they did it, didn't they?" she knew they did it, but she didn't want Kai to know she knew that much.

"I need the information," Kai replied.

"Hmm…" Charly turned around, she noticed that Bart was almost done with his sudden oil change of her car, she wondered why would Kai want with the Black-Diamonds, last she knew his gang wasn't the vigilante type, if anything that was something she'd do. "Tell me why you need the info so badly… and I will give it to you… think of it as a little bit of repayment. My favors aren't cheap you know," she added.

The growl Kai gave off was a repayment enough for her, "Fine…" he paused for a second, "My three friends saw the shootings. And I have reasons to believe the Black-Diamonds aren't going to let that slide," that's all he said.

"I see…" Charly turned back around, "The bullet proof gear, the exposed gun. I should've read the clues. I'll help. I do know where their secret base is, but an attack will be foolish on them now. Instead here is what I suggest," the woman came closer, intent on keeping her voice quiet as not to be overheard. "Me and the girls have a second base on the very side of town, and I propose you guys… with us, get over there as soon as it is possible. As a safe house, unless we are followed, the Diamonds wont find us; the place is like a citadel. And trust us… the diamonds can't get to us there, hell even our base in this 'hood is like a citadel. Us girls choose our hiding spots carefully, so… you go and tell your buddies to pack light. They will only need the bare necessities. I wont reveal all the secrets of the place, but a siege of it wont get those thugs anywhere, and I'm not in the habit of taking in Trojan horses," with that said she reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. Tucking it into the breast pocket of his bulletproof vest she placed a hand over his heart, "trust me Casper, when it comes to hiding… us girls do it best." She added.

"Alright you two! No getting fresh in my shop. As much as I love watching it as the next guy… it's bad for my business," Bart walked in, rubbing his hands clean on the cloth hanging from his pocket.

"Come over here Bart and I'll get 'fresh' on ya… and put a slug in your head! We were talking strictly business issues," Red Fox barked venomously.

"Sure whatever ya say Babe, the car is ready by the way," Bart replied.

"Alright thanks Bart," Red Fox walked to her car, by the door she paused, "Oh and one more thing Bart… _don't_ call me 'babe'!" with that she was gone.

"A real firecracker aint she?" Bart directed the question at Kai, noticing the red business card sticking out of his pocket he chuckled, "Lucky man… she only gives her number to a select few," with that the grease monkey walked to his office. Kai watched him go before he ran for his own car, he had one more thing to discuss with the Fox, and it was something that Bart so conveniently interrupted.

Nearby, two guys sat in a black van. Each one had a leather jacket with a patch over their right shoulder, a white background with a black diamond on it, a diamond-back rattlesnake coiled around the diamond.

One raised the radio, "Yo boss… we just found Ghost, he's been talking to that noob, Red Fox. By the look of things, or so Jerry says… they formed an alliance of sorts," one thug broadcasted. There was a crackle over the radio.

"Follow them… and put them out of the picture, I don't want any such alliance," the boss replied over the radio.

"We read you loud and clear boss, it will be done," Jerry, the other thug replied. Pulling out a sniper rifle from behind the seat, it had an optic targeting system. 'Too bad that toots chose the wrong guy to ally with,' he thought, loading two slugs into the rifle. The other thug put down the radio and drove off. Bart saw this from his garage and frowned.

**_Author Notes: This is chapter 5. Stick around for more!_**

**__**

**_Notes:_** I've been asked a few times what **LAPD** stands for. It stands for **Los Angeles Police Department.**

I've also been asked why would the LAPD put their insignia on undercover operation **Global Positioning Satellite** (GPS) bugs, they do! Don't ask why, because I don't know why, but they do it! My guess would be so that if the bug is found on a crime scene the police can tell that it's one of theirs, and it wont rouses any suspicion.


	6. Confrontations Part 3

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** The plot advances, and the Black-Diamonds are not taking things well; this spells trouble for the group!

**__**

**_Chapter #6:_**_ Confrontations [Part 3]_

Charly returned to the base, parking her car in the garage she turned off the engine and paused. Something about the latest developments irked her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could feel this was happening far too fast. She did not want to be involved with the Black Diamonds. But she also didn't want one of the only decent gangs around to take slugs.

If anything this alliance could prove useful in the long run, she almost valued to the opportunity to gain some insight into the workings of that gang. And see how things worked in there. And if the gang was decent, she could put in a word for them with her boss. She almost exited the car when she heard another engine go dead nearby. Which was unusual for this part of town as the girls have been monitoring it and no other gang had a headquarters here, too far from the main action. Getting out she pulled out one of her automatics. Exiting the garage slowly, gun raised in a cop-like fashion she looked sideways.

There was no one around in the immediate vicinity, but she heard a car door close somewhere nearby. Deciding to investigate, she pulled out a clip from her back pocket and slammed it into the butt end of the auto, loading it. Pulling back the safety and the top part of it she loaded the first bullet. Hoping that was all she would need if it came to shootings. Pressing to the wall she raised the gun in front of her face in a distinctly cop-like fashion, 'Just remember not to yell 'freeze!' or something like that,' she thought taking a deep breath to still the adrenaline fast pumping through her blood.

With a sudden leap she was facing the alley, gun raised and at a ready. What she saw made her lower the gun. There was Kai, sitting on the hood of his GT. Smirking like a devil. Neither saw the black van that pulled up behind her, just peaking from behind the corner.

"What in the blazes are you doing here following me?" she demanded.

"Bart interrupted our little conversation," Kai replied.

"You have my number," Charly replied, "Could've buzzed."

"No cell on me, hate those blasted things," Kai retorted. He noticed something shining behind her; it was small, round and glowed in the faint sunlight. Pushing off the hood of his car he came closer to the woman, deciding to investigate. It was then the van moved closer and Kai realized what it was, "Shit! Get down, now!" he commanded, grabbing the woman by her shoulders, Red Fox obeyed, she didn't have to be told twice.

Just as Kai ducked his head low, two shots ran out above them, the sniper didn't even bother with a silencer. Grabbing his own gun Kai fired back three bullets, the first took off the side mirror, the second hit the van's side just past the driver side window, and the third missed as the van drove off, wheels screeching. "Damn!" he cursed again.

Looking down at the woman in his arms, he didn't realize that his free hand was fully around her waist, clumsily pulling her against himself. Red Fox looked up, their eyes locked, "That was the Black Diamonds, wasn't it?" she asked. Kai nodded, getting up, he growled and looked back, half expecting to find the stray bullets have mutilated his car. What he saw was a relief; both sniper bullets were lodged in the wall of the alley, and not in his GT.

It was then the other girls appeared, guns in their hands, "Charly! Are you all right? We heard five shots… oh," Hikaru paused as she noticed Kai.

"It's alright, it was a damned sniper… he tried to assassinate Kai and me, as I thought… the Black-Diamonds are behind it, and now… they think we are in cahoots. So they sent a hit man already. Girls, we may need to get ready for further events, prepare the base," Charly spoke; glancing at Kai she shook her head. "Looks like this place will do as a base, notify your friends after you move the car into the garage, they are in danger, tell them to come here. Bring your own grub, water we have plenty of, and right now the secrecy of this base is not important to me, the Black Diamonds are after us both. And they wont take us without a fight," she spoke. Flames danced in her ember eyes, intense flames.

As told Kai moved the car inside, he found that the place was indeed built like a citadel. The front walls were thick, blast/bullet proof. Even the metal garage door was bulletproof; he noted the cameras on the walls, and the motion detectors. A wired in security systems. The garage ran the whole front of the building that way the rooms were behind it, insolated against C4 blasts. He wondered why the alley didn't stretch the whole length of the building, now he knew, further shielding from any foreign access.

He watched the girls huddle in a sort of type of sport pep talk huddle. They were whispering something among themselves. After about a minute decisions were made and the girls split up. Charly walked to the living room; slumping on the love seat she breathed a somewhat forced sigh. Kai moved closer to her and sat down on the armrest, not daring to sit by her.

"Hey," she spoke, voice somewhat low.

"Hey yourself, so… how are things looking?" Kai asked.

"Bad, listen Kai, thanks for saving me from a nasty bullet wound. I owe you one," Charly spoke.

"It was nothing. I have two more things to ask. How do you know my real name?" he asked.

"I know more than just your name, I know your shoe size too," Charly replied jokingly, "You could say that I like to know people, even if they don't know me." That was all she said. Kai shifted closer, putting his forearms in his lap, somehow this woman was calming his racing nerves and it was something he needed.

"Well since you know my name, I think it's just my right to ask for yours," Kai continued.

"Name's Charly," the woman didn't hesitate to reply, she raised her hand and put it on top of his as they rested in his lap, she patted his hand comfortingly, "You were going to call your friends… there's a phone just in the hallway, or you can use my cell if you want." Kai didn't reply but got up and left to place the call.

An hour later a convoy of five cars arrived. Four of them sport cars and in the center was a black Chevy avalanche SUV. The cars drove in and took up parking spots, further shielding the back wall as Kai instructed them to take up positions. The guys one by one got out; Kenny was the driver of the SUV. And Tala was perhaps the most displeased as he killed the engine of his black Nissan 300ZX.

"So this is the place, not too shabby," Rei remarked. The noted Kai who was standing beside the woman they could only assume was Red Fox; both had their arms folded.

"As of now, for the duration of this alliance all decisions will be made by me and Red Fox in regards to what will be happening," Kai spoke. Tyson, Max, Rei, and Kenny didn't have a problem with that. Tala however didn't seem too eager to accept things, and he seemed even less eager when he spotted Vega.

"So what's the plan Kai?" Kenny wondered.

"Two of us will remain awake at all times, monitoring the location. We do not want the Diamonds to take us by surprise," Kai spoke.

"That's good, but against seven of them, the two watchers will easily be overwhelmed," Kenny voiced.

"I agree with him Charly, there are eleven of us… if we take three shifts a day we can stay up at about three people per shift. Two shifts can have four people," Vega spoke up.

"We could of course make a break for it into town, I know a little inn by the beach. The innkeeper there knows me. If we tell him the trouble we're in, he'll be able to give us four rooms for cheap," Tyson suggested.

"That is a distinct possibility. Not one without risk however. I do not wish to get innocents involved," Charly folded her arms at that.

"Spoken like a true cop," Tala remarked.

"A cop wouldn't shoot you for making such a comment, and I'm seriously tempted to," Charly responded, glaring murderously at him.

"Hey, Hey let's not fight here. We have a common enemy, the Black-Diamonds, let's just forget about personal feuds for a little bit, alright?" Tyson interjected. The tension in the room eased a little but not by much.

"Oh by the way Kai, when you called, I took the liberty of bringing your laptop here, I also brought your stash of ammo," Kenny spoke up, "It's in the back of my SUV," he added. Kai nodded his thanks and approached the black car; Kenny used the small remote on his ring of keys and opened the back.

That evening Charly walked into the living space after making sure the guys were remotely comfortable, she noticed that Rei, Takara, and Tyson were in the room, sitting on one couch. Tala was lounging on the other, and Kai occupied the love seat. Takara had a bucket of popcorn; the group was watching 'Rush Hour II' on TV. Tyson and Rei could occasionally nap a few pieces of popcorn from Takara's bucket.

"Hey Charly! It's movie night. After they're done with this one, they'll be showing Fast and Furious, and the sequel," Takara commented. Charly nodded, she glanced around the room, she had three options, get Tala up and off the couch, which she didn't want to do considering the fact that it was apparent he didn't trust her one little bit, sit beside Kai on the love seat, or sitting on the floor. None of those three options seemed too interesting, but deciding some seat was better than none she slumped down beside Kai.

"Ready for the night shift?" she asked. Kai nodded, not taking his eyes off the movie. She smiled a little, "Did you guys decide who'll be the third guardsman?" she wondered.

"I'll be the third guardsman," Tala commented from the couch across the room. He obviously could hear every word, even over the sound of things blowing up on the TV.

"Tala and I are more than enough to take care of those Black-Diamond punks, so feel free to go to sleep Charly. We wont take it personally," Kai commented quietly.

"No it's okay, I'm sleepy… but that's nothing a double strong black coffee wont fix," Charly replied, she didn't want to seem like a total ditz by making the guys do all the guard duty.

"That and she doesn't trust us one bit," Tala commented again.

"Must you always point out the obvious?" Tyson asked, "And damn it! We're trying to watch the movie here!"

"And one more thing Tala, trust is objective. If you give me a reason to trust you, I will. But if you give me a reason _not_ to trust you, I most definitely won't," Charly added. There was no reply from the red-haired boy as he continued to lounge on the couch, watching the movie, his hands folded over his chest.

"And one more thing Tala. Charly doesn't trust _you_, she trust Kai. He saved her life. We girls have a motto, not to trust until that trust is earned," Takara put in.

"Ask me if I care… as soon as we get rid of those Black-Diamonds, this alliance will be over," was Tala's only response.

"This night will be hell," Charly muttered.

Outside, around the corner stood a black van. On the roof of an abandoned building sat six thugs. They were watching the building intently.

"The boss said we take hostages. So as soon as they're mostly asleep, we gas the place," one thug spoke. Each of the six wore a matching leather jacket with the Black-Diamond gang emblem. The six exchanged glances and smirked.

"The boss also said he wants Ghost and Fox separately. He has to talk to the two of them," another thug spoke.

"Pfft… he said 'talk' to fox, we all know what he wants. Shit, have you looked at her, talk about Playboy material… no wonder she has Ghost leaping through hoops for her," the first thug argued.

"And we get the leftovers as usually," another grinned.

"You got the knockout gas ready?" the first thug wondered, the second thug brandished the five knock out gas grenades on his belt with a smirk, the six waited.

**_Author Notes: That's all she wrote for this chapter…_**


	7. Confined Part 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** The Black-Diamonds make their move. And Charly has a close encounter of the 'cold' kind with a certain hunky thug.

**__**

**_Chapter #7:_**_ Confined [Part 1]_

It was midnight and the group was mostly asleep. Charly was in the kitchen area, a cup of double strong black coffee in her hands, a hand of cards was in her right hand, cup of coffee in the left. Kai and Tala were also sitting at the table, cards in their hands. On the table were coins and bills, and the game was poker.

"Alright… so I call your twenty, and raise you another ten," Kai spoke, tossing in the money. Things were good for him, for he had already a nice pile of money before him.

"I call that bet," Tala voiced. He was perhaps second place, and Charly was dead last, things weren't going for her apparently.

"Fine, your thirty, I toss in fifty more," she didn't look up, having long abandoned trying to read their poker faces. Kai and Tala were like brick walls, unreadable.

"Too rich for my blood," Tala folded, laying his hand on the table, two pairs, two tens, and two jacks. "C'mon, she's almost on her last dime," he added. Kai thought about his hand, eighty bucks.

"I call that," Kai said tossing in a fifty, a twenty, and a ten in one fluent motion. Laying down his cards, "Four of a kind Charly, read 'em and weep," He spoke. His hand was four of a kind, eight high.

"Funny Kai… really funny… but I think I'll hold the tears," Charly laid down her cards, "Four of a kind too… all aces," she taunted. Kai groaned and Charly reached for the pile. She just made over a thousand bucks on one hand, but that was still less than with what she started, Kai and Tala still cleaned her out, almost.

It was then the three heard thumps coming from the roof.

"What the fuck?" Tala commented.

"I think we have visitors," Kai replied, grabbing his gun. Tala did the same and Charly hastily stuffed the money in a bag and shoved it under the fridge.

On the roof, one thug was walking around, two knockout gas grenades in his hands. He pulled the pins and shoved both into different air duct vents. There was a small clutter coming as the grenades tumbled in the ventilation pipes. Then a small poof, he moved to toss in the other three for a good measure.

Inside, the three went out patrolling the hallway as they heard a hiss coming from somewhere, like gas seeping through, and out of a balloon. Tala turned around and then he noticed white plume of smoke-like substance bubbling out of the air vent.

"Knock out gas!" He alerted, "lets get the hell out of here!" Kai and Charly exchanged glanced, it was then the other vents began to billow the gas, the windowless hallway was quickly filling up with it.

"Shit! They found the one flaw of this place… the vents!" Charly cursed, she could already feel the gas counteract the coffee she drank. Kai was coughing and so was Tala.

Outside, the thugs gathered by the main door, gas masks at a ready, a black van drove up, a large black van. One drew a shotgun and fired at the lock of the door, destroying it in one shot. The six pulled on gas masks and raised the garage door; the garage was full of the knockout gas now, like fog.

"The others are…" Kai paused to cough, he heard the shots and knew that with this gas they had a minute, but probably less, until the coffee they drank would give way and they would black out, "already out like a light… we're…" another fit of cough. The gas was not only drowsing, but it was so thick that breathing was becoming difficult. That's when he saw the five thugs materialize like ominous specters out of the white cloud. Each wore black and gas masks.

He heard a thump beside him and saw Charly go down, raising his gun he tried to aim it at the thugs, maybe if he shot one of them. But his vision was swimming and beginning to rim in darkness, before he could pull the trigger he lost consciousness, finally overwhelmed by the gas. Tala struggled a little longer, being able to keep his breath longer than his two friends, but he too succumbed not ten seconds later.

"Get them, and… the others," one thug ordered. That was the last coherent though any of them heard before completely blacking out.

Back in the Van, Tom, the leader of the gang watched as one by one his men carried or dragged their prisoners out. They were gentler on the women, for a reason, no use damaging the prize of the heist.

"Hey boss… so what we're going to do with them?" one thug wondered as he approached the driver side window.

"First we get what we want, then we get rid of them," Tom replied, "When we get that Akil, I want Ghost and Fox kept in a separate room from the others, I need to have a long talk with them. And tie up their hands, we don't want to risk them waking up on us in the van," Tom spoke. Akil nodded and moved back to the van just as the last of the thugs returned. The eleven prisoners were loaded into the back of Tom's van. And the leader drove off. The five thugs ran back to their own van, parked around the street curb, after one lowered the garage door, making sure no one could smell the knockout gas used, it would be a dead giveaway.

It was morning; the sun was rising and streaming through a window of a room. Iron bars framed the room, giving it a cell-like feel. The walls were bare and the room had no furniture except two mattresses on the floor. They weren't even the world cleanest mattresses either; the metal door of the room was featureless. And the room was frigidly cold as air conditioners on the ceiling blasted full force; ribbons tied to their grills flapping like flags.

On the mattresses lay two figures, a woman and a man. Each was on their side, knees bent, hands tied behind their backs with coarse rope. Tom entered the room, arms folded, watching. Six hours since the attack, and most were still knocked out. In the other room he already had two people awake, none of the girls however were up yet, and that wasn't entertaining him any. There was no fun in a woman that didn't struggle. Exiting the room he smirked, 'Yes… I'm going to enjoy this a lot, I can't wait to see the look on his face…' he thought bitterly.

Inside the room Charly began to stir, her head was aching and she still had the foul smell of the knockout gas in her nose. A smell so foul that it threatened to knock her out again. She felt that she was lying on something remotely soft, and that the room around her felt like a meat locker set on high.

"Ow… my freakin' head," she groaned out. Slowly opening her eye she closed it instantly, the room was bright with sunlight streaming through the window, and with her gas induced migraine it felt even brighter. Slowly opening her eyes again she took the time to adjust, that's when she saw where she was, and came aware that her arms were numb, and immobile, tied uncomfortably behind her back. She also realized why she was so cold; the bastards took away her leather jacket. They intended to see her freeze. "Just shoot me already…" she grumbled.

"Don't wish for it, I have a feeling they will want to torture us first," a voice spoke from behind her. Sitting up Clumsily Charly turned to that voice, she wasn't surprised it was Kai; figures the thugs would want the leaders separately. He too was missing articles of clothing, his barbwire pattern shirt, and bulletproof vest were gone, so that he was only in his muscle shirt.

'What a view…' Charly thought, but then shook her head furiously, 'Bad! Bad! Bad!' she chided herself. Then she noticed her missing guns and his missing weapons.

"You okay?" Kai asked, a note of worry in his tone.

"If you think that being tied up, hell knows where, freezing cold, unarmed, with a splitting migraine, and in the clutches of some sick bastards as being okay then I'm just _peachy_!" Charly barked back.

"Calm down, they didn't hurt us… yet," Kai tried to reason, but he knew it was futile, he could see the note of panic in her eyes, and her shivers too.

"Stupid idiots," she cursed, struggling with the ropes.

"Here let me help, I can untie those," Kai offered.

Charly glared at him, "How do you propose to do that, unless you're Houdini and can escape your own ropes," she asked. Kai wanted to roll his eyes, the woman was behaving highly irrationally, but he supposed that was to be expected. He got unto his knees and clumsily half waddled to her, sitting back down, back to her.

"I'm not Houdini, but I can try do it this way," he offered. Charly felt his fingers on her wrists as he felt for the knots; she stretched out her hands, as far they would go, giving him more access. Ducking her head low, she felt his fingers work with the knots clumsily, occasionally they would brush her wrists, tickling her. She tried desperately not to twitch or giggle, she was ticklish.

"I'm sorry, bad leadership… we should've followed Tyson's advice and fled to town," she spoke.

"It's alright, I know where we are, I recognize the view outside the window," Kai replied.

"Oh goody… a lot of good that will do us…" Charly sucked in air in a big gulp as his fingers brushed her wrists again, all in the vain effort to contain a shudder as she felt a wave of some sort of energy rush through her spine like a tidal wave.

"Don't worry, it'll be a while before they decide to get rid of us," Kai replied, trying to work the knots as fast as he could, but they were being stubborn and his fingers were numb and stiff from the cold of the room.

"Why aren't you mad? For Crist sakes! I got you into more shit without even trying!" Charly continued.

"There is no use getting pissed off at it now," was his reply. Charly felt the knots loosen and a second later she slipped one hand free, bringing both hands foreword she rubbed her raw wrists. "Hey what about me?" Kai spoke. Charly smiled and moved to untie him.

"Thanks Casper," she spoke into his ear, her warm breath was a clash with the cold air. A second later he was free and rubbing his own raw wrists. The girl moved away from him.

"Man… I'm so damn cold," she spoke, rubbing her forearms and upper arms. Kai got up, approaching the door he passed a hand over it and then knocked on it gently, it was solid metal. Even if he had his gun, which he noticed he didn't, it wouldn't have done any good.

"I think this is some torture plan those fags cooked up," he spoke, not even bothering to restrain his tongue.

"Gee Casper… that make me feel all the more warm and fuzzy inside," Charly replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "My kingdom for something to throw at that air conditioner," she muttered.

"They promised forty degrees today outside, that glass doesn't look too strong on the window," Kai supplied. This got her to look up at him.

"And I'm not punching it! I don't want shards of glass in my hands," Charly replied, coldly, she had a solution for the problem, but knew better than to propose it. Kai rolled his eyes at her. He sat down in the corner, the one corner that was the farthest away from the conditioners spouting nozzles. Sitting cross-legged he put his hand on his ankles in an almost meditative posture and closed his eyes.

"What the heck are you doing?" Charly asked, she watched him like a hawk, wondering why the hell he acted like the cold didn't bother him. She was freezing her ass off and he acted like he was unbothered.

"If you think about it carefully, you will see that the reason you're so cold is because you're directly in the downdraft of the air conditioner, over here its somewhat warmer," Kai replied, not opening his eyes. He heard a rustle of clothing as she moved closer to him.

"I'm still cold," she muttered. Kai cracked his eye open at her and that's when he realized why else she was so damn cold. Because he just noticed that her shirt was not a shirt at all, but a halter-top. Her back to just about below her shoulder blades was exposed.

"Are you familiar with survival tactics?" he wondered.

"Yea… why?" Charly wondered.

"What does it say about not freezing to death?"

"Get shelter, fire… and if everything else fails…" Charly paused, it hit her, Kai's reward was her blushing like a tomato, "No way you pervert! I much rather freeze," she spoke in a cold tone.

"Suit yourself," Kai closed his eyes again.

"Pervert," she muttered under her breath. Kai barely contained a grin that threatened to stretch on his features from ear to ear this was too entertaining.

**_Author Notes:_**_ This is it for chapter 7. In case you guys didn't get that comment about survival tactics. The best thing to do when fire is not available in a shelter is to share body heat._


	8. Confined Part 2

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 8… things happen, and Charly does something that surprises even her.

**__**

**_Chapter #8:_**_ Confined [Part 2]_

Meanwhile in the other room, the other nine people were slowly coming around. The girls were tied up separately from the guys. Rei and Tala were the first to come around, half woken up by Tyson's snoring. Rei was struggling with his ropes, Tala meanwhile did a Houdini and managed to slide his hands that way they were now in front of him, giving him the ability to try and undo the knots with his teeth.

"Hey, where's Charly?" a female voice asked. Both looked to their lefts, Vega woke up.

"Probably elsewhere, Kai isn't here either," Rei replied. The room around them was also freezing cold.

"I swear if they do anything to Charly… I'm going to shoot them all in the head," Vega grumbled.

"If she's with Kai, they'll be fine," Rei tried to encourage.

"Sweet of you slugger, real sweet. But it isn't helping," Vega bit her voice was somewhat frigid.

"Women, always have to complain," Tala commented. This earned him a death-glare from Vega.

"And what did you do? Fall asleep on the job?" Vega barked.

"For your information, they used knockout gas! Idiot," Tala barked back.

"Hey, who turned off the heat?" a voice mumbled. Lilly was awake and looking around at the four of them. She noticed the death-glares being exchanged between Vega and Tala. Then she noticed Rei and promptly blushed, he was missing his Exco jacket, giving the girls a nice view of the results of his other hobby besides buffing his car.

"You okay Lilly?" Vega asked.

"Yea, I'm fine… ah damn, my hands… I can't feel them," she muttered. It was then Rei finally freed his hands, throwing the rope across the room.

"Way to go Rei, now be a dear and untie me, will you?" Vega spoke. Rei shrugged and moved to untie the girl. "Then you might want top help Tala, as much as I want to see him chip a molar on that rope, we don't have the luxury of a dentist," Vega added.

"Sarcastic bitch," Tala muttered.

"Neanderthal," Vega replied. Tala glared and she glared back.

"Hey! Vega calm down, fight later okay? We need to think of how to get out of here," Lilly tried to reason. Vega rubbed her wrists as soon as she was free. Rei moved to untie Lilly who thanked him with a courteous nod.

The door of the cell opened a second later as a thug stepped in, causing the people who were awake to look up. "And how are our guests?" he asked. Everyone glared, Tala desperately wanted to break some bones. He noticed everyone was missing their weapons, but he still had his spike-knuckle gloves, figures the morons didn't think to remove them, and right now he wanted nothing more than to punch the thug's lights out.

"Bastard," Vega hissed. The thug turned to her, smirked and kneeled down by her.

"Repeat that bitch…" he hissed, taking her chin in his hand roughly.

"Fucking bastard," Vega replied proudly, her eyes frozen over in a cold mask. The idiot thug raised his fist to punch her when Rei responded, grabbing the thug by the back of his leather jacket. The thug turned around and tried to slug Rei for touching him. But the black-haired boy ducked out of the way, a second later the thug doubled over as Rei's right fist connected with his gut.

The thug saw his defeat and moved out of the room, "Just watch it! I'm going to kill you myself for that!" with that said the door was slammed shut. Rei put his left hand over his right fist and massaged it.

"Why did you do that?" Lilly spoke.

"We still have an alliance after all, and now… it is even more important we stick together, for the time being," Rei replied.

"Thanks Rei," Vega spoke.

Tala finally freed himself and began to rub his raw wrists, "We need to think of a way out of here," he spoke.

"After Hikaru, Takara, Tyson, Max, and Kenny wake up. We can't leave them behind," Vega offered. Tala grunted something inaudible. Lilly meanwhile was untying her still unconscious friends and Rei moved to untie his comrades.

Tom sat in the central room of the place, counting money.

"Yo Tom… I heard from Jamal, the vixen woke up," Akil spoke. Tom looked up at him.

"And Ghost?" he asked.

"He's awake too, and Jamal said those two haven't wasted a second to try and think of a plan to escape," Akil replied.

"Good… I believe I'll give my little Vixen a visit," Tom got up.

"What to do about their guns?" Akil asked.

"Nothing for the time being, there is no use in throwing out such fine guns," with that said Tom left the room.

Tom pulled out a gun, better play it careful. He knew how unpredictable Ghost was, but he doubted even he would want to take a slug for a bitch.

"Tom?" Jamal asked.

"Open the door," Tom instructed.

Inside, Kai and Charly were quiet when they heard keys in the lock. Exchanging glances both got up. Charly hesitated for a second, and Kai unconsciously took a step to cover her partially.

The door opened and a man stepped in, he was about twenty. Light completion, tall and lean, but built. He had short slightly spiked brown hair and a pair of green eyes that shone with mischief, or malice.

"You're awake little vixen," he spoke.

"What the hell do you want?" Charly replied she hated being called 'vixen'. Thugs tended to do that, because of her street name 'fox'. A vixen was that, a female fox.

"Don't bother hiding, I have no reservations at shooting you both," Tom spoke, raising his gun. Charly raised her head proudly and stepped away from Kai.

"Alright then, shoot!" she spoke. Kai was surprised, did she have a death wish or something, this was Thomas, the leader of the black Diamonds, a man feared and known in the neighborhood for his cruelty.

Tom raised his gun and pointed it at Kai, "I have something else in mind babe. Before I do that… you know it's been a while since I had some a pretty girl around here, how about it. You give me what I want… and I wont kill you."

"Go hump a tree," Charly replied coldly, fire igniting in her eyes. She saw the gun was aimed straight at Kai, but ironically that didn't seem to worry him too much.

"Watch who you're talking to bitch, now be a good girl, or I shoot him right here and now," Tom continued. Charly glanced at Kai, she know that Tom wanted something from her, and that Kai wasn't part of the plan, so right now Kai was in danger. She made a step closer to Tom. "That's a good bitch," Tom sneered. He lowered her gun and paused, Charly came even closer.

Kai watched her, it was obvious Tom thought she was going to submit, but he saw her right fist clench, 'Stupid girl… she'll get shot,' he thought. Despite everything he didn't want to see her blood shed by this scum. She was decent, the fifteen minutes or so he spent with her alone in the room told him that she was somewhat different from most women he met. But what he saw shocked him. Tom caught her around the waist with his free hand and leaned closer.

"Damn," Tom spoke; he leaned down and put his nose near her neck. Kai watched the girl stiffen and closed her eyes. He could only stare, she was partially submitting, and for what, so he wouldn't get shot? Was she stupid doing thing like that? "This isn't the time my little Vixen, I'll be back tonight… and Ghost, if you want… I'll allow you the last wish of having fun with her first," Tom moved away and winked at her, leaving the room. Charly remained stiff as a washboard as the door shut behind Tom.

Kai moved forward and put his hands on her shoulders, he felt the girl shudder, her skin was like ice, "Are… you going through with it?" he spoke. At that she whirled around, his hands falling back down to his sides.

"Hell no! Don't you touch me! Sorry _Ghost_… I much rather die than do anything to him other than break his neck, or shoot him in the head. When he comes back in here… and his guard is down. He'll regret calling me those names, I'll put a slug from his own gun in his head; no one calls me 'Vixen,' more than once and gets away with it! And if you so much as dare touch me in a way I don't like… you're getting the slug too!" She hissed quietly, fire still smoldering in her eyes.

Kai looked at her; being taller he had to look down, there was something in her eyes. She seemed to be angry, but yet… there was something. Then he saw what it was when tears started to pool in her eyes. With a slight whimper her body convulsed as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "I'm scared of him," she muttered.

"You're not the only woman out there who fears him. The guy is a creep… and… Charly I would never do anything like that. Believe it or not, my gang and me have three things we don't do. Rape, Drugs, and Serial Homicide," he assured. The girl finally calmed down and relaxed a little. Before he could say anything more or move away, her hands shot out around his waist as she hugged him, almost burying her face in the crook of his neck. At first he stiffened, but then gently relaxed, and just stood there, not wanting to be the one to provoke her wrath again, even just by putting his arms around her.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered, moving away, she sat back down and brought her knees up to her chest and wound her arms around them. Placing her head down. Kai also sat back down and exhaled in an almost sigh like fashion.

"He's a fag Charly, he thinks that he's all that, simply because many of the women around these parts would die for his favors, like it or not. He has power, a lot of it." Kai spoke. She looked up and smiled at him.

"I'm sorry about calling you a pervert earlier, and then thinking you'd stoop that low… I'll be glad when we're out of here," she spoke. Kai sat cross-legged again and closed his eyes; he heard her but didn't speak. He could also feel her eyes on him like she was studying him.

Tom walked back to the central room, he glanced at Akil, "I will need a pair of handcuffs for my little play time with the vixen, I don't want Ghost getting in the way," he spoke.

"Don't worry boss, he wont… even if I have to knock him out. I'll go and cuff him about an hour before you wonna go in, just tell me when," Akil replied.

That evening, Charly became even more nervous as the day progressed on, sometime around two Kai had to practically yank her down so she would stop pacing, she was driving him insane with the pacing, not to mention she made him nauseous. Now it was around eight, the sun was starting to set and the two we sitting somewhat closer to each other.

The door opened and Akil stepped in, "Yo… having fun you two?" he spoke. Akil was a frail-looking dark-skinned man. Who was about half a foot shorter than Kai. In his hands he held a pair of cuffs, "Ghost now be a good prisoner and put these on, I aint kidding. The boss doesn't want you getting in the way when he comes for the vixen," Akil spoke. This snapped something in Charly. She stood up sharply, flames ignited in her eyes.

"He aint doing anything Tom says you hear?" Charly barked.

"Oh I see how it is… well I guess Tom wouldn't mind," Akil smirked and moved back to the door knocking on it. Charly knew an opportunity when it presented itself.

**Author Notes:** Yep… This is for 8. Akil is being a pervert, but hey that whole group is that way. So can the gang bust out before anything bad happens? And what is going through Charly's mind. Stick around to find out!


	9. Flight For Freedom

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 9… The jailbirds are springing their wings.

**__**

**_Chapter #9:_**  _Flight For Freedom_

The door just began to open when Charly grabbed Akil around the neck, the second the door was open she pushed him into the guard, sending both back with force, both hit the wall and slumped down.

Kai got up as well, he didn't know why she was so volatile all of the sudden, but he knew that it had to do with Tom and his cronies. He knew what that look meant and it made him sick to think that Akil thought he would stoop that low.

"What now?" Kai asked.

"Put them in that room… and lock it up, take the key with you," Charly instructed. "Two less… five to go," she spoke. She grabbed the guns off the two guards and partially helped Kai drag them inside. The door was locked a second later. "Here," she offered him one of the two guns. Kai took it, but then he noticed something familiar about this gun.

"This is Rei's," he spoke.

"That means they still have our other weapons, damn I miss my autos," Charly muttered.

"Come, I think I know where they would keep them," Kai volunteered. The two moved to stick to the walls.

"You do know how risky this is going to be?" Charly whispered. He paused, she was close to him, very close, after exiting that cold room he realized that his sense of feeling became acutely sharp. He could feel cold radiate of her skin as the warmth of the hall worked its way to raise their temperatures back to normal.

"I know, but… frankly I much rather die fighting," Kai replied.

"Same here, now how about we try not to do that alright? I want to have one more race against ya if you don't mind," she spoke. Kai glanced back at her, smirking.

"You got yourself a deal," with that he knew he had another motivation to bust out of here with his life, as if killing Thomas wasn't motivating enough as it was.

The two moved down the hallways almost silently as lights from the sun dimmed. The sun was setting, which was a good thing. Charly suddenly spotted a bend, standing with her back to the wall, gun raised she peered around the corner. Kai watched her movements, it stroke him how oddly cop-like her posture was. The gun, and the position of the feet, it didn't take a lot of concentration to imagine her in dual blue uniform, baton at her side. He didn't care for the image particularly because he didn't care for cops, but something was different with her. The image of her in uniform was too easy to picture, perhaps a little too easy for his liking.

"Look there is another thug there, I think that's where the others are kept," she spoke, jarring him from his trance. Kai realized that he stared at her the whole time his thoughts were racing, but the good thing was that the girl didn't notice him staring at her.

"What's the plan?" Kai asked.

"Kai, did you notice how imbecilic those thugs are?" Charly wondered.

"They're tough, but not exactly the brightest bulbs in the package," Kai replied.

"I guess the old saying is right, you can't have brains and brawn in one package," Charly joked. Turning her head she glanced at the thug and smirked, "I have a plan," she spoke.

Digging around in her pocket she pulled out a coin, Kai quirked an eyebrow at that. The girl put the coin on her thumbnail and flicked it up, catching it, "Watch this," she spoke. Flicking the coin again it fell on the floor and rolled. The thug heard the sound of metal hitting concrete and saw the little piece of metal roll towards him. Picking up the coin he saw where it came from. Approaching the curb of the hallway the thug did not expect the flying right hook right in the face. The coin flew up into the air as the thug fell back, Charly caught it in the same hand in which she punched the thug.

"Smooth one, but I could've done that," Kai commented.

"Oh quit bragging… you know there is a difference between how you would do it, and how I do it," Charly replied, flicking her braids behind her shoulders.

"And what's that?" Kai asked.

"I make it look _good_," she spoke in a saucy tone. "Now come on Casper, we have our friends to rescue," she added. The girl moved to the door and put a hand on it, the door was made of metal, and it felt very cold to the touch. "Be a dear, see if there is a key on that guy," she glanced at Kai. He obeyed and looked at the knocked out cold thug. After about two minutes of patting down the out cold thug he found the keys and tossed them to the girl.

The others were fully awake now, when they heard keys in the lock alarm shot though them. The door opened and a figure appeared in the doorway, the keys spinning on her finger. "Guess who?" she taunted.

"Charly!" Hikaru and Takara were instantly hugging the girl. Then they noticed Kai.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Kai spoke.

"Where were you guys?" Tyson asked.

"That doesn't matter, we have to find our weapons, and missing stuff. Then we need to alert the cops, now they do have a reason to arrest those thugs. Abduction is a felony,"

"Whoa…. Wait a minute! The cops can just arrest us as well!" Max argued.

"Trust us, they wont," Charly assured.

"You seem sure in that, what do you know," Kai demanded.

"I'll tell you when we get out of here, lets go," Charly moved, Kai went back to the knocked out thug and grabbed his gun. It was a silver and chrome semi-auto. Kai growled, recognizing his own gun.

"Here Rei, catch," Kai tossed the other gun back to his owner. Rei caught the gun and nodded his thanks.

"Where to now oh fearless one?" Charly asked, glancing at Kai. Before Kai could reply a bullet ricocheted over their heads. Kai instantly turned around and raised his gun, firing back at the thug who just ducked behind a curb.

"Shit! They're on to us!" Tyson cursed. Another shot ricocheted above them as the group ducked. "Shit, does he have lousy aim!" he added hastily. It was at that moment, the thug's gun decided to jam. So Kai saw his opportunity and advanced on him, before long he was out cold, a nasty red bruise fast forming on his check from where Kai's fist connected with his jaw.

"We have three out cold, there are three grunts and Tom left," Charly announced, "Tom is mine, I have a personal score to settle with him."

"Not many would want to pick a bone with him anyways," Rei quipped.

"Now if I was stupid, cocky, and egoistical, where would I leave my hostage's guns," Vega spoke in a calm tone.

"Somewhere in the open where you can look at them as a trophy?" Tyson supplied. The others looked at him strangely, "What? It's an idea!" he added.

"It's a good idea, for once," Tala spoke.

"Well if I get the theory correctly, Tom would keep them to himself. And considering that Charly has automatics, hers are bound to be with Tom. They're rare and powerful," Takara voiced.

"Great… grubby fingerprints, and I just polished them," Charly muttered. The group moved on, the base wasn't complex and soon they found themselves behind a wall of a hallway that lead to the hall. Inside there was conversation going on, the group could clearly hear four male voices. Vega rummaged through her pockets as she moved away from the group. She pulled out a silver cell phone and flicked the lid of it open.

"Figures the idiots don't know the first rule of taking hostages. You need to pat them down for hidden weapons, and cell phones," Vega spoke with a smirk, "and here I though I had a reason to break all their wrists for the hell of it."

"Where are you calling?" Kai demanded coldly.

"The cops, who else. Dude chill, we have an alibi, the cops wont cuff us. But those guys wont be that lucky," Vega replied, pushing nine-one-one on her cell. A minute later she was done with the call, "They'll be here in five, so if we want our stuff, we have to move quickly."

Kai glanced at Rei and then at Charly, being the only three with any sort of arms, they knew things were up to them to take the thugs by surprise. It was then that they heard foot steps, Tom exited the room and walked towards the cells, Charly and Kai knew where he was off to. Now the odds were even.

"Ready?" Kai asked, raising his gun. Rei and Charly nodded, taking a deep breath they leap from the covers. The other three thugs instantly looked up.

"Move a muscle and I'll shoot," Charly warned in a hiss. She was aiming her gun directly at Akil; the man shrank back in fear. The others appeared, "Girls… there's rope over there, lets see how they like to be tied up," Charly added. Vega, Hikaru and Takara moved to do just that.

Two minutes later the thugs were tied up and gagged. Lilly approached the central counter table which next to it stood a chair that looked like a throne, on the back of it hung a familiar belt.

"Hey Fox, your autos… fully loaded," Lilly spoke. Charly grabbed the belt and hastily put it on, handing the gun she had to Vega. "Man! These bastards also stole my baby!" Lilly continued, reaching under the table she pulled out her 'baby'. A long distance sniper rifle, with optical and laser aim, as well as a built in silencer.

"That's some baby," Max joked. The others also found their various weapons and missing clothing on the thugs. Tala seemed almost happy to have his black automatic back. Just then in the distance, police sirens began to get louder. The gang quickly hid all weapons, Kai was just finishing on putting on his bulletproof vest, he checked the breast pocket for the card Charly tucked there, a grin spread on his features when he felt it was still there.

Charly sat on the throne-chair and put her feet comfortably unto the desk, holding one of her automatics at a ready. She knew Tom would return any second now. After hearing the police sirens stop nearby.

Not a minute later Tom ran into the room looking like he was panicking. He opened his mouth to say something when he noticed his comrades were tied up and forced into a kneeling position, over each of them, one of the boys stood.

"How the hell did you escape your cells," Tom demanded. Charly raised her automatic at him, holding it sideways.

"It's over Tom, the cops are here, and we got you pinned. So… give up now," she spoke.

"Bitch," Tom replied, Charly smirked. It was then a sound of doors being kicked down was heard. A shout of 'Freeze! This is the police!' was heard. Charly lowered her gun and tucked it back into its holster.

"Checkmate," she spoke with a sinister smirk.

At that moment three cops appeared, guns in their hands. They saw the odd scene. It was then Vega decided to play her 'damsel in distress act'.

"Finally!" she spoke.

"Someone called the police?" One officer asked. The guys gathered around the girls, all trace of weaponry hidden, even Lilly tucked her precious 'baby' neatly away.

"I called the police, there are seven of them here, we were abducted last night from our place of residence. But we managed to escape," Vega spoke in a falsely panicked tone.

Two more officers came in, dragging the other three thugs who were cuffed and awake, "There seem to be traces of hostages," one cop spoke to the other.

"We want to ask some questions," the third police officer spoke.

"We really aren't in the frame of mind," Lilly leaned against Max.

"I'll be glad to answer anything," Charly moved foreword. The others exchanged looks but let her past. She followed the cops closely; digging through the pocket of her jacket she pulled out a small wallet sized leather article.

"I'm afraid officers, you will not be able to question me and my friends as this was a sting operation," she began. The officers stopped as they shoved the seven thugs into a police van and shut the doors behind them.

"You're a cop?" one officer asked.

Charly opened her wallet and let it fall flat, showing her ID and badge to the officers, "Special undercover agent Charlene Deamen, FBI, this was a covert sting operation. And in the interest of my comrades and me maintaining our cover, we cannot allow you to conduct questioning," she spoke in a cold tone. "Go ahead, trace this badge, it's legit," she added.

"Damned feds," one cop spoke. Charly only grinned at that and hid away her wallet as the others appeared.

"We're all clear, now let's go…" Charly glanced at the others, by her grin the girls knew what she 'answered' them. The guys however were clueless. 'I'm going to have an ugly talk with the boss about directives tomorrow,' Charly thought to herself.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this is for chapter 9. Stick around for more!_


	10. End Of The Alliance

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 10. Charly has that 'Ugly Talk' with her boss. And the alliance between the two gang is over, but is it really? Read on to find out!

**__**

**_Chapter #10:_**  _End Of The Alliance_

The cops left with their prisoners leaving the gang alone at the place. "So how are we getting back?" Hikaru asked.

"Good question," Tyson added.

"Those thugs left the vans in there, the keys are on the wall in the main hall," Charly replied as if it was the mostly elementary thing in the world.

"How do you know so much?" Kenny asked he previously remained quiet because things weren't his forte. He was a hacker, not a gangster.

"Photographic memory, it's a gift," Charly replied, "And Kai… I'll need to have a conversation with you," she added, "I'll tell you later when I got time, Vega… I need you to place a call with Benjamin, we may need to further gas-proof the vents in our place," Vega nodded.

Half an hour later the group left, the two vans came in handy indeed. Each one could seat six, and still had some space for cargo. The girls took one van all to themselves. Vega was driving.

"So what's the deal?" Hikaru asked.

"I had to flash the badge, Patterson aint going to like it. He hates seeing us on cop records. I'm going to have an earful tomorrow. And with my luck, he'll want me at HQ by nine am stat," Charly explained.

"Sucks to be you," Hikaru quipped.

"What about the alliance?" Takara wondered.

"So far… with the threat of the diamonds gone, it's over. Although… as freaky as it is, I'm gonna miss those six macho punks," Charly replied. Vega smirked at that, but no one saw her.

"I sure as hell aint gonna miss them, okay maybe Max and Rei a little. They're nice, and Kenny a little bit. He's quiet, but a nice guy." Takara voiced.

"You just ticked off their good guys, Tyson is okay too… sure he's loud, but he's okay," Hikaru added.

"That only leaves Kai and Tala… Maybe I'm off for once, but I think the have some decency going on between them. I mean, Kai told me that there are three things he doesn't do, Rape, Drugs, and Serial homicide, his voice was cold. But I swear I can feel he's not lying," Charly continued.

"Don't let Patterson hear you say that, you'll be off the task force in no time!" Lilly voiced.

"There is a protocol against trusting perfect strangers while undercover, and then there is a protocol against forming alliances with people the FBI doesn't know about, and need I remind you about the protocol on not letting your base of operations be discovered by potential security breaches?" Vega added.

"Since when are you a stickler to the book Vega?" Takara wondered, eyeing the girl oddly.

"I can already hear Patterson yelling his head off at Charly, I would not want to be in her shoes, but I just want to remind her of all the breaches so far," Vega replied.

"There seems to be a protocol against anything remotely fun when you're an FBI agent," Lilly grumbled.

"I know Patterson has an issue, but I get where he's coming from. In some backward way, he doesn't want to see people get hurt. And we're the damn best undercover agents he had in a long while, we got first hand experience at being in the 'hood," Hikaru added.

About an hour later the group arrived back at their base. It still stank of knockout gas. A stench now stale and foul, almost to the point of making anyone too sensitive sick to their stomachs.

The guys instantly went over to check their hot rods for explosives, bugs, or any other foreign object. The other girls went inside, they were all tired and the adrenaline rush finally wore off, leaving them drained like flat batteries. Charly however hung back. Soon enough the boys also went inside, it was decided that they would room one more night, being tired and not exactly fit for driving right now.

She approached Kai who was wiping up fingerprints from all over his car. Figures the thugs decided to investigate his car while he was out cold. She slid unto the hood of the car and crossed her legs.

"We gotta talk," her voice was cold and emotionless.

"About what?" Kai looked up.

"This alliance, if one can call it that."

"It's over," Kai replied gruffly, "As soon as we leave, we're back to enemies."

"Hmm… such a shame, I really thought we had some team work goin' on there, might have been the next big boys of the 'hood. You know," she said with a smirk.

"It's over Charly," Kai repeated, even colder this time, if that was possible.

"Alright, but before you walk out of those doors. There is something I'd like you to know. I think it's a waste to become enemies, how about we just stay neutral, or maybe distant allies. In times of emergency I help you. And if we get in shit, it goes the other way. How about it?" she proposed.

Kai threw the polish rag behind the seat of his car, glaring murderously at the woman. She was a stubborn mule, it was obvious she would try every single way to get him to bend, and as much as he hated to admit it, she had a point. Becoming enemies was going to be a waste, when he saw first hand just how formidable this girl and her friends could be, "What part of _'no'_ don't you get?" he hissed.

"Hey put those nitros on a cool Casper, I'm just sayin… just one more thing," she slid off the hood of his car, wondering why he let her sit on it, seeing the huge amount of finger prints on the hood she knew why and it ticked her. "No matter what Kai, personally… you aint my enemy, you're a decent and mostly honest guy. Which is more than I can for some other gang leaders, and I just don't want to see this slip. You know, but if you don't want it… alright, I respect your wishes, but if you change your mind… you have my number," she proceeded to walk out of the room.

Kai watched her go, shaking his head. The girl was persistent, that much he gave her credit for. But she was foolishly so, this alliance would endanger both of them as much as it would help, because news like that spread fast, every guy he ever irked, would think there is something going on, and would want to get to her. And that would leave her in danger; he wasn't going to have that. Kai paused as he realized where his train of thought was speeding. Why did it matter what happened to her and her rag-tag gang? He shrugged and resumed polishing the hundreds of grimy fingerprints off his car.

The next morning the guys were gone, like ghosts vanished during the night. Most of girls were almost glad for that. Charly left soon afterwards, in her usual clothing, but over her shoulder she had a large duffel bag. She opted to take Takara's less flashy Toyota Echo Hatchback instead of her Celica. The car was elegant black in color, with white racing stripes and a large rear spoiler over the hatch door. It looked like your every day regular car.

She arrived in downtown L.A in about fifty minutes, morning rush hour delaying her trip. Entering the lobby of a large official looking building she frowned, she hated being here. Walking to the washroom she opened the duffel bag and pulled out a casual gray business suit. Grumbling at how she hated it, but had to do it, she took the disabled stall; due to it's size and began to change.

A few minutes later she exited in the suit and smirked, reaching behind her shoulder she undid the elastics around her twin foxtail braids. Letting the hair come loose, she pulled off the scrunchy holding the tails up and let the hair cascade down, she now looked a lot less mean in the mini skirt and elegant tie.

'I hate it… but Patterson will have one more thing to have my head over, can't have him getting any more reasons to chew me out. Bad for my health,' she thought with a smile. Putting her other clothing in the duffel bag she exited the washroom, her badge and FBI I.D now hanging off one lapel of her jacket on a clip in plain view.

Hopping on the elevator she took it all the way up to the twentieth floor and exited the cabin. She found herself in a large hall with many cubicles, people were buzzing around, going about their business. Across from this jungle of people were the personal offices. One of them marked 'Leonard Patterson' she grumbled and moved towards that office. The secretary by the door noticed her almost immediately.

"Miss Deamen, you're late. Mr. Patterson has been waiting," the woman spoke. She reminded Charly of a crow. The woman was about in her late fifties; undoubtedly this was not her choice career considering she was almost always grumpy. She announced Charly's arrival over the intercom, the door swung open after about ten seconds.

"Deamen… in here, right now!" the man before her barked. He was medium height, in his fifties. Graying hair and a black suit. The jacket has been discarded and it looked like the shirt wasn't ironed properly. Charly numbly entered the door, almost jumping when Leonard Patterson slammed the door behind her so hard the glass in it rattled. "I hope you have a damn good explanation for your recent behavior Deamen, because I am about tired of your bullshit, now sit down," he added. Charly did so almost numbly she hated this. "My agent told me about your little adventure with a certain gang of known thieves. What were you thinking?" he continued.

"Sir… I wasn't –" that's as far as Charly got before he cut her off.

"That's right… you weren't thinking! That's not your strong suit, is it now?" Patterson glared murderously.

"Sir… with all due respect, that did not go as planned," Charly argued.

"What was in the plan? By all means Deamen, enlighten me." Leonard sat in his office chair and folded his hands over the desk.

"The known gang of thieves sir… is actually decent. It is my opinion from experience that the six of them would be an asset to this mission. They have helped me bring down the Black-Diamonds, we've been after them for months now!" Charly argued.

"I don't care about your opinions. Bottom line is that you breached protocol. Possibly endangering your cover, I cannot have that with my best agents. Not when we are just beginning to get leads on the people the Black Diamonds were working for, I want you and your little cronies to be more careful next time. And I better not find out one day that you blown your cover and that now the whole mafia of L.A is after you!" Patterson barked.

"That will not happen sir, I am much too careful for that. But I still stand by my opinion about the six thieves. And with your permission, I'd like to keep an eye on them, and if possible, scout them into the undercover gig. Ghost, the leader, seems to know enough to put himself and possibly innocents at risk. The information must be intercepted. And if a little breach of protocol is the only way to do that, then with all due respect sir… protocol be damned, I will not have innocent blood shed," Charly replied.

"Permission granted, you have guts Deamen, you're not afraid to get dirty. It's the one thing that makes you the perfect agent for the job. More perfect than trained FBI operatives, I was right to put trust in you. But you better not abuse that trust Deamen, because if you do… you'll find yourself behind bars, where you really belong, you… and your four cronies," Patterson warned.

"Aye sir! We wont disappoint!" Charly was surprised by his words; she expected a lot worse.

"Now get the hell out of here," Patterson added. Charly jumped up from her seat and left the room, partially because she didn't want to be there, and partially because she was dismissed. Better get going while the going was still good.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this is Chapter 10. And you have now met Leonard Patterson, who is bound to give everyone a hard time. But what will happen when the guys find out the girls are 'FBI' sting agents. Stick around to find out!_


	11. Ace of Hearts

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 11 for your enjoyment! If you thought Tom was bad, his boss redefines the term 'snake in the grass'. And Charly is feeling things, things she shouldn't be feeling… or so she thinks.

**__**

**_Chapter #11:_**  _Ace of Hearts_

Charly returned by early afternoon. The girls were napping the adrenaline off. And she herself felt a little less than par. Entering the kitchen are she opened the fridge, digging out she pulled out last night's dinner leftovers. Each of the girls took turns cooking up dinner. Often a great degree of experiments were involved. Last night Lilly cooked up her special, five alarm chili sauce. So now it was KFC drumsticks she got in a drive through, with the sauce.

Slumping down at the table she glanced at the small barred window in front of her, "Life sucks," she thought. Drumming her fingers on the table in between dipping a drumstick into the chili and taking a bite she let her mind wander to the events of the previous couple of days.

What started out fun was quickly becoming a chore for her. She was bored and daunted by countless imposed regulations. "This is exactly why I dropped out of police academy," she muttered. Then her mind strayed to a certain bi-color-haired thug. She could see the image of him without the bulletproof gear, or the shirt. Charly shook her head violently, "Bad! Bad! Bad!" she said her usual mantra when she was thinking inappropriate things.

"What's bad?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" Charly turned around, spotting Vega in the doorway; the girl sat down in front of her.

"What's bad?" she asked again.

"Oh nothing, just thinking," Charly shrugged her shoulders and bit into another drumstick, "Chicken?" she mumbled in between bites.

"Hmm… I may have to play Sherlock again. Okay, clues… you're here eating highly fattening foods, you got a mopey expression, and is that the tail end of a blush? My, my…" Vega counted things off.

"I need my comfort food," Charly argued.

"And pray tell what has gotten you so distraught? It's not Patterson, cause you never look this mopey about having a talk with him. In fact, often you're angry beyond words at him, so what's shaking?" Vega continued to prod. Sometimes reading Charly's facial expression was too easy.

"Vega you're gonna get me pissed right now," Charly grumbled back.

"I think I know what's going on!" Vega suddenly spoke, ignoring her friend's obvious threat and murderous expression. "Last time you were that mopey, you were thinking things that you call 'inappropriate' like you think it is inappropriate to think a guy is drop dead hot," she added. Silence settled over the room. Charly just glared, Vega smirked, "I'm right isn't I? So who… oh, I think I know that too!" Vega grinned deviously suddenly.

"You know nothing!" Charly argued, tearing into another defenseless, chili covered drumstick.

"You're still mopey over the fact that Kai saved you, aren't you?" Vega asked in a perfectly leveled tone. Charly didn't have to reply; the rise of a blush on her cheeks was all the reply Vega needed. "Or… oh this is rich," that was the final straw; Charly got up sharply and turned around.

"Vega, I do not like your way of nitpicking at everything I do, I just had a hellish meeting with Patterson, I come home intent of relaxing, and this is what I get? I do not need this," Charly hissed.

"I'm sorry, it's just… well you know, it's not often you're moping about a guy," Vega tried to reason. Charly didn't take it; she grabbed the last drumstick and left the room. Vega watched her go, she was now officially worried.

Charly climbed into her car, glancing at the cell phone cradle there, she sighed, 'He probably shredded that card as soon as he had the chance… but what do I care about what he does?' she thought. "Damn it… what the hell is wrong with me?" she asked no one in particular. Angrily jamming the keys into the ignition she let the engine roar. The garage was remote operated so it began to open slowly.

Vega heard the roar of the engine and it made her shoot up from her seat in alarm, she raced into the garage just in time to see the Celica shoot out like the space shuttle and then turn sharply, gunning down the street. Vega shook her head, grabbing her helmet off the wall where it hung on a hook she mounted her bike, only to remember that she had just enough gas to get to the gas station, and not chase after her friend. Giving a sigh of defeat she opted to use the wonders of mobile phones.

Charly meanwhile arrived at the club, letting her engine go dead she paused in the car, watching the people gathered around. There was some sort of massing as an unusual amount of people was gathered in one spot. She watched closely, it seemed that most of the gathered were women. Which stroke Charly odd, where were their 'boyfriends' it was uncommon for a woman to be unattached in this part of the city.

Upon a closer inspection she saw they were all massed around a car, Charly knew of only one car that could get this much attention, so she almost turned away when one of the women moved, showing that the car in question was red, not deep blue.

This made Charly curious, getting out of her Celica she locked it up and approached the group, being taller than most women she could see over their shoulders. Her eyebrows climbed in shock at the car she saw. A shining red Ferrari Challenge Stradale, the car had white racing stripes; its spoiler was folded down, but still prominent. The car radiated masculine energy all over it. Charly smirked; someone was rich in this neighborhood, that or hell lucky as a thief.

"This is one cool hot rod," one woman remarked, Charly rolled her eyes. Maybe she was biased, but Kai's GT had nothing on this car. Charly shook her head at the through, there she was going again, thinking of him. She moved to walk away when she spotted a young man standing some distance off, eyeing the women with mild interest. What peaked Charly's interest was that she never seen him before.

He was tall, six foot three, or around there. Short cropped brown hair that almost looked black, a pair of piecing hazel eyes, a rarity of sorts. He wore a pair of loose Levis jeans and crocodile-skin biker boots. Black turtleneck sweater and a leather jacket, an uncommon look around here. He just shone 'oddball'.

The man approached the crowd of women, "Ladies… can I please have my car back now?" he asked. The women turned around sharply at the sound of his voice, most got that pathetic starry-eyed expression. Charly rolled her eyes; she however wanted to see how all of this would end, she folded her arms and hung back, an amused expression on her face. The man skimmed the crowd and his eyes stopped on Charly, he grinned and winked. That was the final straw, Charly turned around and walked off, the oddball was also a flirt, and she hated flirts.

The man watched her go and detached himself from the crowd of women, he caught up in no time flat, "Hey…" was the only thing he managed to say.

"What do you want?" Charly demanded, not turning around.

"I'm new around here, I was looking for some people to call friends… you know," he replied. Charly grinned a little; she still had it. He indeed was a new face around here, just like she judged.

"It seems like you already got an invitation into the in crowd, here a good car takes you a long way," Charly replied.

"Oh them? I dunno... I'm not their type. I mean they are only interested until someone else with a better car rolls along," the man replied.

"At least they're interested, I am not. So I suggest you back off," Charly didn't bother turning around.

"Name's Ace," the man continued, moving so that he was face to face with her, "Ace of hearts," he repeated flirtatiously. "C'mon… I'm just trying to make a friend," he added.

"The only friends I got, is the ones I choose to have. So unless you back off, you're going to find out what I do to stuck up snobs like you," Charly was growing irritated.

"Can I have your name at least?" Ace sounded begging, Charly rolled her eyes the guy was not getting it, either his hearing was selective, or he was as dense as reinforced concrete walls.

"Red Fox," with that she walked away, towards her car, she didn't not want to stick around here where this flirt was.

Ace watched her go, 'So she's Red Fox… Tom's description didn't do her justice. She is much more beautiful, but he did get one thing right, her temper is fiery to say the least, but that doesn't matter,' he thought. Within a second he was flocked by a crowd of wooing women again. He separated himself from the women and got into his car, they parted as the Ferrari's engine roared to life and drove off.

Charly watched the Ferrari drive off. Something about this new face irked her. She could swear he was more than just a new guy with a flirty attitude; she was about to call Vega and see if she heard anything about him. Usually Vega was the first to hear and know things. Bart, being an auto aficionado was also among the first to know when something rare and beautiful on four wheels rolled along. He was also the only mechanic in the hood who didn't belong in a gang, a position of impartiality that earned him a lot of business.

The cell phone rang suddenly, almost surprising the woman enough to drop it. She glanced at the called ID to see who was calling, but then admonished herself, Vega would be the only one to call, 'Who did you expect you dumb girl?' she asked herself, pushing the receive button the third ring.

"Hey," she acknowledged.

"Charly! Finally! I thought you were in trouble, or out of the car, anyways… we got a hot tip from Patterson, figures after you left. Some info came, get back here pronto! We have a lead!" Vega spoke.

"I'm on my way," Charly closed the device and nearly chucked it back into the glove compartment, the engine of the Celica roared to life, scaring a couple who was heavily making out against the wall behind her. In a second it drove off.

She arrived back at the base almost ten minutes later the door was already open. The other girls were waiting rather impatiently.

"So sup?" Charly asked as she got out of the car.

"Patterson sent us data over the secure wireless, Tom finally decided to speak. Figures the guy isn't the fond of the idea of spending twenty years in jail for drug charges. Anyways… he says his boss knows about what happened, and will not let us live it down. The cops might come in here snooping, looking for us. They don't know we're feds, so only that one officer who saw your badge knows, and he was bought with a hefty bonus to keep quiet. But this is disturbing, if the cops do decide to show up and take us into 'protective' custody. Our mission can be blown, and the boys might find themselves in a hotter frying pan, they actually have valid criminal offences. The cops are dumb, but not that dumb, they may actually decide to jail those six." Vega summarized.

"And why is he suddenly worried about non-agent parties? It's not something real feds usually do," Charly asked.

"Because, he agrees with you. He says he doesn't want potential agent material going to jail. All their crimes are minor, no rapes, drugs, or killings involved," Takara pointed out.

"Just like Kai said," Charly whispered more to herself than to the others. "Alright that is peachy, but how the hell does he propose we warn them without blowing our cover?"

"He didn't say warn 'em, he said and I quote, 'Do one of your usual fine jobs at skirting around the law, you're too good at it' I swear he said that," Vega spoke.

"Alright, I'll ponder about it, any clue who this big cheese is?" Charly asked.

"Not a clue, the guy is elusive, Tom wont say anything. He's already afraid he spoke too much," Takara piped up.

"And why is he talking?" Charly asked.

"If he doesn't, he's looking at twenty years at the worst maximum security prison of the state, and if he does… he gets ten with a chance of parole after five in a med security cushy prison where he gets his own cell, protection, and a daily monitored phone call to his girlfriend in San Francisco. As a federal informant, there once safe he promises to spill all to ensure his parole, not that Patterson will let him have it. He said he's keeping that scum full term," Vega explained.

"Ah the faithful law system of our beloved US of A, the only country where the law system is so damn flexible," Charly muttered, "No wonder I dropped out of police academy."

Elsewhere, Ace walked up the gangplank of a private yacht standing in the harbor of LA. The boat was huge white, looking like a dwarf cruise ship if anything. An ever-cheery petite redhead ran up, hugging and kissing him.

"Mr. Donovan sir, all is as you instructed," a tall man reported. Ace nodded and disentangled himself from the arms of the woman.

"Connor dear, are we sailing now?" the woman asked.

"As you wish baby, run to the bridge and tell Anthony to raise anchor as soon as my car is on board and secure," the woman ran off as soon as he said that, "Terry, was Tom contacted as I asked?"

"Yes Mr. Donovan, he was instructed to speak only as much as you wanted him to, he will be transferred to the medium security prison as soon as things go through the courts. We'll be able to bust him and his friends out no problem," the man responded.

"Good Terry, very good, when you do… kill them," with that said Connor walked away to find his girlfriend.

"As you wish Mr. Donovan," the man, Terry, spoke, bowing as Connor walked away.

Connor walked into his room, the petite redhead was already waiting for him there, she looked joyful to see him back, probably the reason why he kept her around, she was curelessly stupid. She didn't ask question about what he was doing, she liked to go shopping, but she was a hell of a bounty, and an excellent escort to all manners of places.

"Alice, I have work, can you come back a little later? Have the pool filled and the spa heated, alright baby?" Connor asked. Alice nodded, stood up from her seat and approached him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, giving him a kiss on the lips.

"Don't take too long Connor dear, I missed you," she said after separating from him, with that she was gone. That was one more thing he liked about Alice, she never argued with him over anything, she was perfectly happy if she got that new pair of shoes and that six hundred dollar designer dress she liked every week. Connor moved to his desk just as he heard a rumble from below, the boat came to life, soon it was moving out of the pier.

**_Author Notes:_**_ This is it for 11. Not that much and may not be the best. But I tried._


	12. Deliberations

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 12. A bit more plot development, the second weekly race is upon them. And Acey-Poo meets everyone favorite Ghost.

**__**

**_Chapter #12:_**  _Deliberations_

Charly found herself in the mini training room of their base. Taking out frustration she didn't realize she had on a helpless punching bag. Things were spiraling out of control, she could tell that much. And she hated not having some degree of control over what was going around her.

Finally she stopped the assault on the suspended stuffed bag when she felt a dull pain start up in her right shoulder blade, a high school injury taking its toll. Grabbing her water bottle she threw a towel around her neck and took a long drink of the water.

"Poor punching bag," Lilly spoke. Charly turned around and smirked, shrugging her shoulders.

"I have to take out my frustration somehow, I can't just attack random thugs for kicks," the brown-haired girl explained.

"Makes sense," Lilly voiced.

"What brings you here?" Charly asked.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see how you were doing, Vega is worried for you. She seems to think there is something you are hiding something from us," Lilly spoke.

"It's nothing, just… stress," Charly shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever you say," Lilly spoke, knowing full well that Charly would not tell what was the matter unless she was cornered.

"Lilly, have you ever had that conflicting feeling where your instinct told you one thing, and your logic told you another?" Charly glanced at Lilly, pausing in the toweling of her sweat-soaked bangs.

"Sometimes, yea…" Lilly quirked her eyebrow, she did not expect this from the brown-haired leader of their group.

"Well I need to hear what you think of the latest development. My gut tells me to be weary of things, but… my sense of logic tells me that this is the ideal time to latch unto a more permanent alliance, I don't know about you guys. But I see the prospect there," Glancing out the window of the training room she didn't know what move to play next. For her, this was like a game of chess, and like all games, Charly hated to lose.

"Patterson said to do what you want about it, as long as you don't break protocol, so… what's the problem?" Lilly wondered.

"I guess we're going to have to wait for the first move from Tom's boss, because I don't have a clue about how to approach this problem on my own," Charly spoke. Lilly nodded in agreement, but she was hesitant. "I'm just afraid that first move will be too late, I don't want to see anyone get hurt, and bosses of this caliber often follow the old proverb, 'kill the head, kill the body,' you know," Charly explained her reasoning.

"Oh I see…" Lilly smiled a little.

"I feel an oncoming migraine…" Charly complained, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb, "I'm going to take a shower, Lilly can you do one little favor, put my usual black coffee in the machine," she glanced at her blond friend who nodded. With that said Charly walked away.

The next day it was Thursday; Charly was at Bart's, making final checkups on her car before the races tomorrow. Bart currently had the car on rollers, it was held fast in one place, a fan directed at it's expanded intake, Bart was running tests on the small motor that would automatically make the intake expand as the race and engine demanded it.

"Looking good!" Bart commented. "I'm impressed, Vega did an excellent job on the trimming of the intake here," he glanced at the car's owner and smiled.

"Thanks Bart, how's business?" Charly wondered.

"Great! I got a new customer, a new guy in the hood, drives a Ferrari… calls himself Ace, did you ever hear about him?" Bart commented, unlocking the car from the test device, he was the only mechanic in the neighborhood who could run performance tests on upgrades he did, and he fully guaranteed them, which not many mechanics did.

"I ran into him, not the world's most pleasant fellow if you ask me," Charly replied, watching as Bart rolled her car off the test device.

"He's popular with the ladies," Bart argued.

"Not with me, frankly he gives me the creeps. He's too flirty for my liking," Charly replied. Bart looked at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"And who is to your liking?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know…" Charly paused, she drifted of into a state of a trance and Bart watched that, somewhat amusedly. "I guess it would have to be someone intelligent…"

"Tall, handsome…" Bart suggested with a grin.

"Not you," Charly added glaring at him. Bart just smirked, having been caught red-handed.

"But seriously Charly, there has to be someone who is more to your liking," Bart argued.

"As I said, it aint you," Charly grabbed the keys of her car as Bart handed them over. She climbed into the driver's seat and turned the engine on, it roared to life.

"I'm not saying it's me, but… I have a candidate; he's one of my other customers. I could ask my sister to set you up on a blind date, of course… it's unlikely he'll agree, the guy is as cold as a fridge set on high," Bart argued.

"Bart, you're hopeless," Charly commented.

"Nah, I just want to see you happy, I don't think that's a crime," Bart replied.

"It isn't a crime Bart, but I don't need your help," with that said Charly drove off. Bart was like that, he liked to think of all his customers as his friends, especially the women, the guy was twenty-five, caring, and very compassionate. He wanted to one day move shop downtown, but with premiums are they were in LA, he could only afford having a garage here.

Meanwhile Connor was in his office on his yacht. A knock on the door alerted him to a visitor. "Come in," he spoke.

"Mr. Donovan," Terry spoke as he stepped in.

"Yes, what is it Terry?" Connor asked.

"Sir… we received the information you wanted. Our agents in the FBI undercover division confirm it. That woman Red-Fox is one of them, here… this was just faxed, in," Terry place a manila folder of papers on Connor's desk. He instantly took the folder and opened it.

"Excellent, and what of that other gang?" Connor wondered.

"They are not on file, so as far as I know, they are regular thugs," Terry replied.

"Good, good… I have a plan, I can use those FBI girls to get rid of Ghost and his gang, and then it is only a matter of time until we get rid of those women. And once we do, that whole neighborhood will be mine to command and control," Connor spoke, folding his hands before him.

"So what are your orders Mr. Donovan?" Terry wondered. Connor looked up at his faithful and best thug.

"Nothing for now Terry, I have a plan in mind that doesn't involve anything too unlawful, lets not resort to violence until absolutely necessary, but keep the sniper warned, if things don't fall into place… I will have to put them out of the picture by shedding some blood," Connor stood up and moved across the room, glancing out the porthole. The view of the open pacific and the city was something. "I am going to participate in the street races tomorrow, I want to be there early, so have my mechanic tune up my car today," Connor spoke.

"As you wish Mr. Donovan," Terry responded.

"Alright, dismissed," Connor glanced at Terry who bowed gently and left the room.

It was about noon at a local pub, when the clubs were closed this was where people gathered. The pub was a cozy club-like setting, with music and dancing, not as quick as in the clubs, but it was still loud.

In the corner of the place sat Kai, nursing a cup of coffee in his hands, swirling the black liquid around the cup. He saw three women step into the pub. They sat two tables over, but their conversation was so loud that Kai could still hear every other word. And it didn't take him thinking too hard to piece the conversation between the slang and the flirty comments.

"Cindy did you see what happened last night?" one asked. Cindy giggled like a schoolgirl.

"I was there Kat, Ace is so cute… he's got the hottest car!" Cindy swooned. Kai was about to look away; he wasn't interested in female gossip. He took a sip of the coffee in his cup and almost spat it back out when he heard Kat's next comment.

"I cant believe Red-Fox snubbed him like she did! What is her problem?" Kat spoke.

"She is such a bitch! She comes around, first she snubs Ghost, and now she snubs Ace, is it just me or does she enjoy being so mean to guys?" the third woman, who previously remained quiet asked.

"She probably does, of all the nerve!" Cindy grumbled.

Kai's eyebrow was ready to hit the roof by now, 'I wonder who this Ace is,' he wondered. He attempted to hear more from the gossiping women for once he was interested.

"Cindy dear, who are you going to bet on tomorrow at the race?" the third woman asked.

"Obviously not Red Fox, she lucked out that one time. Ghost is so going to whoop her ass this time Angela, I just know it," Cindy replied, pulling out a small powder case, opening it, looking at herself in the small mirror before using the small puff pad to fix the powder on her nose.

"I heard that Ace will be at that same race," Angela, the third woman, spoke.

"Oh this will be good, Red Fox getting her butt whooped by both of them!" Kat spoke with a giggle, "I don't know for whom to cheer, both are so… like… hot!"

Kai groaned, and got up, but got that him noticed by the three gossiping women. "Ghost! Oh wow, you look good!" Cindy was instantly on her feet and approaching him, swaying her hips with each step.

"Leave me alone," Kai brushed past her.

"Ghost don't be rude, we are just being nice," Angela argued, latching unto his arm as he passed by. The glare he sent at the blond was set on vaporize, but her intelligence wasn't high enough to comprehend the meaning. Kat latched unto his other arm, and this got Kai irked to the point that he itched to just pull his arms free, not caring if by 'accident' he slapped either or both of the them.

"Ladies," he ground out the term through his teeth, "Leave me alone!" he barked. Pulling his arms free from their shocked grasps. Stalking to the door, throwing the barkeep a ten in a motion of 'keep the change', even if his coffee only costs two bucks.

The next evening, it was Friday, the night of the race. Kai arrived at seven forty; he was again in the last sport car race of the night, the eight o'clock race. The participant parking lot was buzzing with people. Kai easily spotted the red Celica belonging to Charly, driving over and taking up an empty spot. He rolled down the window as he saw Charly was polishing the hood of her Celica, the driver side door was open and the car was blasting music, the girl seemed to be dancing along, her lips moving as if singing, but she wasn't, she was lip-syncing. The music was something by Janet Jackson; he smirked at her music choice.

Opening the door he got out, "Fancy meeting you here," was the only thing he said.

"Oh hey Casper," Charly reached inside the car lowering the volume, "Ready for that race you promised me? Don't go easy on me; you hear…" she said with a smirk.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Kai glanced at the car and then looked back at her, "So who is this Ace I heard about from a few women yesterday, I heard you snubbed him good."

"Some punk who thought he could get lucky with me," Charly replied. Just then there was a roar of an engine as a red Ferrari pulled up behind Kai's GT. "Speak of the devil," Charly muttered. Kai turned around just in time to see Ace get out of his car; he approached Charly, completely ignoring him in the process.

**Author Notes:** So this is 12. Nothing spectacular. Oh yea I just love making fun of preps. Bite me.

**_Special:_**_ If you remember, my friend 'The Chaotic Good' well… She now has her first K/C vignette up. So drop by and review all right? Also I wanted to note that I been asked by a few people why Charly calls Kai 'Casper' cause Casper is a 'friendly' ghost. Well, it's simple… Sarcasm! She does it simply because it is completely opposite of the way he really is!_


	13. Ace’s Agenda

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Ace seeing his previous plan crumbling fast comes up with another plan, one that will shake the very foundation of the shaky friendship Fox and Ghost have.

**__**

**_Chapter #13:_**  _Ace's Agenda_

"Hey babe, you racing tonight?" Ace asked. Kai contained a grin, Ace was in for it, Kai already knew that Charly disliked being called a babe, Ace meanwhile didn't let Charly reply, he stood in such a way that Kai couldn't tell why he was holding his hands behind his back, but as he pulled out a single red rose, Kai realized why. "For you," he handed it to Charly who tinted pink a touch.

"Thanks Ace. You're new around here… so I won't maim you, but I hate being called babe," Charly spoke.

"Sorry," Ace apologized, "Force of habit," he added with a wide smile on his face, a smile that made Kai distrust him even more for some strange reason.

"I bet," Charly muttered under her breath.

"Who's this?" Ace continued, glancing at Kai.

"Oh… that's Ghost, an acquaintance of mine, don't mind him," Charly spoke. This caused Kai's eyebrow to arch; now she was definitely 'snubbing' him in favor of Ace. But what irked him is the realization that he didn't like that at all, and he strangely wanted to give Ace a piece of his mind at the moment. Normally he would have loved to have some woman plainly ignore him while he was around, but that wasn't the case with most of them, most were gold diggers and would latch unto any guy who looked successful at what he did, and having his GT gave Kai that image, women knew an expensive car when they saw it.

"Hey, name's Ace," Ace stretched out his hand in a handshake. Kai just glanced at it and didn't move to acknowledge him at all.

"Why are you here Ace?" Charly wondered.

He let his hand drop, seeing as Kai wasn't going to shake it any time soon, "Oh, me… I'm in the sport car race in ten minutes. I heard you were in it too and I wanted to swing by and personally wish you good luck," Ace replied.

"Heh… Ghost is in it too. Keep the luck Ace; you're going to need it more than me. Between me and Ghost, you got a snowball's chance in hell of winning," Charly replied with a smile, "The fastest and second fastest wheels in the 'hood."

"Keep thinking that toots, you aint seen my baby race yet," Ace argued.

"Oh I think I know what I'm up against, your car is a Ferrari Challenge Stradale, good car but it has very little on the Ford GT, and it has less horsepower or so my friend Sting says, it's top speed is also about twenty clicks lower, here those twenty clicks can make a whole lot of difference, and I aint even mentioning the spitfire that Ghost's particular GT is," Charly argued. Kai smirked, she pretty much covered it, and he was surprised by the extensive knowledge of vehicles the girls possessed.

"Keep assuring yourself of that toots," Ace smirked again.

"It's five minutes to race time, I suggest we get final preparations underway," Kai suddenly spoke.

"Alright, see ya Foxy. Ghost… I'm gonna win, so I'll see you in my rearview mirror," with that said Ace walked off waving over his shoulder. When Ace turned around, Kai noticed a change in Charly's demeanor.

"I thought he'd never leave, what a maggot," she spoke. Kai almost wanted to smile at that, so the girl couldn't stand Ace anymore than he could, and was just playing along, he had to admit, her act was near flawless, it fooled him. "Lets make a deal here Casper, whatever happens out there, screw the prize money… we keep that maggot from winning, deal?" she proposed.

"Deal," Kai replied. She smiled at him again and walked back to the driver's side of her car. "Fox?" he spoke in a questioning tone.

"Yea?" Charly paused.

"After the race, we have to talk," Kai replied.

"Call me up then hon, you have my digits," with that said the girl climbed into the car and a second later the voice of Janet Jackson was back, louder this time. The girl was obviously telling him that this was the end of the discussion for the time being.

As soon as Ace was in his Ferrari, his flirty demeanor vanished, discarded aside like a mask. He watched the things unfold with Ghost and Red-Fox; he could about make out their conversation, being partially able to read lips. The two were planning something, so much he could tell. And despite the woman's nice disposition to him earlier, he could tell it was a clever act. She was too smart to act like that normally. And he could see the distrust shine in her eyes.

But he noticed that look of distrust vanished whenever she glanced at Ghost. It didn't take much to know that the other man commanded Red Fox's attention to the point that implementing his plan was going to be extremely difficult. She didn't strike him as the type to easily fall for plans. 'Perhaps I can use her trust in Ghost to my own advantage, once that trust is broken, I will be there to pick up the pieces… and before long the final blow will be struck,' he thought, grinning.

Five minutes later their cars were on the starting line, rearing to go. Kai was in his usual spot, Charly and her Celica by his right, and Ace by his left.

"Yo fellas… Ghost is back to haunt this track, like every week. And so is the spitfire rookie Red Fox, this will be a grudge match. But now Ghost has another spitfire rookie to contend with, put your hands together for Ace, and ladies… he's still single," Dee spoke over the microphone. The applause and cheering almost drowned out the sounds of roaring engines. Mainly it was women who were cheering for their latest object of affection and his red Ferrari.

"Dee, we're ready to get this race on!" Mike added. The hotwired stoplight turned on and all sound dimmed. As the light shifted yellow, engines revved and the tension grew thicker. With the first second of green light the cars were off, Kai's GT almost instantly breaking into the lead with Red Fox on his tail pipes and Ace on hers. The two cars shifted into a sort of formation, the street was wide enough for three cars, but as the two drove, they blocked the lanes so only they could drive on them, effectively trapping all the other racers behind them. Not that any of them aside from Ace could keep up.

"There is a formation going on Dee, Ghost and Fox are definitely in cahoots for this one, they are not letting Ace get any ground here," Mike spoke.

Ace frowned, with them driving over the lane lines, he had no way of squeezing through between Ghost's GT and Red-Fox's Celica. The GT was a wide car, powerful, built for racing. The Celica was nimble like a mongoose; it could block his path on a whim if the driver noticed his attempts at implementing any sort of plan to get ahead. But what irked him the most was not the fact that he wasn't going to win, it was the fact that this was the first time he was going to loose to a pre-planned strategy against him. It was obvious that those two did not trust him, nor they wanted him getting any ground.

On lap ten the Celica pulled out of formation, and pulled to the left of the GT, beginning to make sharper turns, leaving the right side of the track wide open. Ace knew his opportunity to get ahead. Flooring the accelerator he gave his Ferrari all the juice it needed. The machine roared and burst foreword.

Then suddenly the Celica and GT made a sharp left turn, followed by an equally sharp right turn around a barricade. And Ace realized a moment too late his error, being new to this track he completely forgot the sharp 'S' turn and now he was hurtling for the barricade at breakneck speed, with only milliseconds to make the turn. The two gave him an opening on purpose. But he made the turn, just grazing the barricade with his side view mirror, nearly taking it clean off.

"Ouch! Ace just kissed concrete!" Dee spoke over the microphone.

"Red Fox played him like a pro that time with that move," Mike agreed.

Charly smirked, she glanced at Kai's GT, still heading straight down the middle, unmoving. She then noticed the Ferrari on her tail. 'So he can corner, didn't expect that, doesn't matter. He's ruffled… now I only need to focus on staying as close to Spooky as possible, with luck. Like last time, I can fire the nitros a split second earlier than him, and take this. Two birds with one stone,' she thought.

Lap fifteen was when she noticed that her engine wasn't performing; it was beginning to stall again, having been overheated. She almost began to worry when she saw before her eyes the intake on her hood expand on little hydraulic jacks connected to the engine. The engine came back full force, and with the additional intake she noticed a spike in her speed, five clicks without even touching the accelerator.

Ace was plainly irked by lap eighteen; all throughout the race he was dead third. While it was obvious his opponents were fighting for first position as either one them would hold the first place for a time, but mostly it was the GT, the Celica was playing the mongoose, baiting at the GT to make the fatal move and allow it to break ahead. As they entered the last straight Ace saw smoke erupt out of the two tail pipes of both cars. A second late with a loud boom a plume of flames exploded out of the tail pipes of the GT, followed by an equally loud boom as a matching plume of flames exploded from the pipes of the Celica. Both lurched foreword hard. Accelerating to their fullest potential.

"And this race is over!" Dee shouted over the microphone, "Ghost reclaims his title, looks like Fox was a one hit wonder! Ace takes third…" The cheering was louder as the two stopped, with screeching wheels, the rubber of the tires protesting against such sharp breaking as they skidded about ten meters. What Ace didn't know that despite everything, both of the winning drivers were happy, more so with leaving him eating their exhaust than with their positions.

After receiving her second place prize, Charly drove back to the now deserted participant parking lot, the races were over for the night, and she waited. Not having to wait long. Her cell rang out, the girl picked it up off it's car set and lifted it to her ear, pressing the receive button with one fluent motion.

"Fox speaking," she acknowledged.

_'Hey Charly, it's Vega. We got some files from Patterson, new mission update; the boss wants this handled pronto. Tommy-Boy opened his yap summore, he seem to be positive his boss, whoever he is, is going to kill him. She he decided to rat,'_ Vega spoke over the line.

"Vega there is a problem, I have a prior appointment if you can call it that, I will get back home as soon as I can," Charly replied.

_'Who are you meeting?'_ Vega inquired.

"No one important," Charly retorted.

_'Alright, I wont pry… just be watchful for strange plumbing vans, Patterson just may have decided to put a trace on you,'_ Vega replied, with that said the line went dead.

"Plumbing vans, yea I got'cha," Charly muttered. Just as she hung up on the car, the device rang again. Pressing the green receive button again she raised it to her ear, "Fox speaking," it was a usual greeting.

_'When you said to call you, did you intend to put me on busy?'_ a voice asked. Charly almost chuckled at that.

"Sorry Spooky, Sting called before you. And you know, she's my best friend, I couldn't hang up on her, and doing that she would get very suspicious. Where are you anyways? And I thought you didn't have a cell phone," she spoke.

_'I just said I hated the blasted things, not that I didn't have one,'_ Kai replied, _'And you might want to look in your rear view mirror.'_ Charly did so, spotting the GT standing about a hundred meters away she smirked.

"Could've just driven up you know," she spoke over the line. At that the engine roared and the car moved closer. Closing the line she got out of the car and perched on the hood, it was still hot from the race. "You wanted to talk?" she prompted as soon as he was out of his car.

"Yea, I want to know something. One thing has been bugging me, what did you tell the cops that left us alone?" Kai asked.

"Can't say, I don't remember. I was out of it back then, you know with what almost happened and the whole shock of things," Charly lied, she knew she was lying through her teeth but hoped he wouldn't catch unto that.

"Alright, one more thing… it about the location of our base," Kai began.

"What base?" Charly spoke in a tone that signified that she has forgotten on all records, while she perfectly remembered the location, she wanted to make sure he didn't see her as a threat, if the alliance proved anything, it was that Kai and his friends were honest, more or less. "Tell you what, I don't know about you, but this deserted parking lot gives me the creeps. How about we go somewhere with more people there, say the local club. And just for the record, this is strictly platonic and related to things that happened, under no circumstances will I allow you to treat this as a date," she continued, as the last words her voice taking a cold edge to it.

"Wouldn't dream of it, I have a reputation to uphold, lead the way," Both moved to their cars. Completely unaware that in the shadows, Ace saw everything, he had a pair of binoculars and a camera, and was now he was smirking deviously.

Ace raised a cell and dialed up a number, after a second as the two cars drove off, he received a connection, "Terry, get Doppelganger, and tell him to break out his disguise kit, I have a job for him," he spoke. He didn't wait for a reply, knowing full well that Terry understood, he would brief the man called Doppelganger himself upon arrival.

**_Author Notes:_** This is Chapter 13. So what does Ace have up his sleeve, and who is this Doppelganger, stick around to find out! Trust me! You wont be disappointed!**__**


	14. The Doppelganger

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 14. Some non-mush K/C for your enjoyment.

**__**

**_Chapter #14:_**  _The Doppelganger_

About ten minutes later Kai and Charly arrived at the local club. Almost instantly the resident players and women noticed their arrival. Parking their cars next to each other for comfort Charly was the first out of the car; she glanced around the parking lot. The usual group of women was there, along with their boyfriends. But as Kai appeared, all attention was instantly on him as those women began to think up of approach angles. Charly meanwhile didn't need one, so she threaded over to his side, resisting the urge to snake her arms around his, for all practical purposes, 'I promised platonic, I will not use him to piss those preps off,' she thought, 'as much as I want to.'

"Anything specific you wanted to talk about?" Kai asked as they got in line. He expected a reply, but when he didn't get one, he noticed that the woman beside him was somewhat distracted. Following her line of sight he saw the group of women watching them like vultures out on scavenge. "Don't mind them it's the usual I get," Kai voiced. When he noticed that the girl still didn't snap out of it, it gave him an opportunity to appreciate the finer points of the situation at hand, and his company.

"I'm sorry you were saying something?" Charly looked up at him, catching his stare, she froze and so did he. Both blinked almost owlishly before she broke out into a fit of chuckles and blushed.

"It's alright, come inside… " He motioned for her to pass the bouncers first, the two tall brawny bouncers didn't pay much attention to who was going on in, and they just channeled people in an out fluently. "So where do you want to talk, booth or regular table?" now that they were inside, Kai had to raise his voice to be heard over the techno beat of the club. He felt a hand on his forearm as the woman gently tugged him to the private booths that were away from the music, and hence quieter. He remembered the fact that she was very quiet most of the time, and didn't raise her voice often at all, not even at Tom had she actually yelled, so he let the somewhat intimate contact of the moment slide, but it didn't mean he didn't enjoy it.

Sitting down across from each other he watched Charly fidget for a second, before she calmed down and placed her clasped hands on the table before her, "So… ask any questions you have, but I reserve the right to not answer if they are private," she prompted. Kai watched her for a second before he choice one of the questions that have been bugging him for a while, ever since he heard of the incident earlier, "Once question if I may," he began. The girl nodded her approval. "Who exactly is this Ace fellow, and why does he seem so interested in you?" Kai asked boldly.

"That's two questions Kai, but I'll tell you… if I knew why he is so interested, I'd tell you. As to who he is, he says he's new around here. He says he needs a friend around here. I get the distinct feeling that he is very possessive and is going after me because I am apparently the only woman who wont give him the time of day," Charly explained. At that Kai frowned, something didn't add up in his mind.

"I get the feeling that he is a liar, there is something about him… he's not new, usually new people don't find out about the street races until the second week they're here, and sure as hell they don't make it into the races on their first week," Kai theorized.

"I agree Ace does seem a bit odd. You don't think he's been here longer than a week, do you?" Charly asked. At that Kai glanced at her square in the eye, it was a logical deduction and all signs pointed to it, but something told him that Ace had a deep dark secret to him. That also nagged at Charly, if Ace has been around earlier, how come Patterson knew nothing about him. Usually the other agents in the neighborhood knew quickly of any new arrivals, especially if they happened to be men, women gossiped, and they were a reliable source in this one instance. And if indeed Ace was here earlier, where was he that she hadn't seen him before?

"My theory, which is as good as we have right now is that he did what I did when I came here. Laid low and scouted out the competition and the workings of this neighborhood, got to know people and then only made public appearances. He's intelligent, that much I know just by looking at him," Kai explained. He watches a waitress appeared by their booth.

"Good evening, can I get you two a drink?" She asked politely. Charly glanced up at her, the waitress was a petite dark-skinned girl with black hair, wearing a black miniskirt and matching pumps, and she had a nametag on her white blouse that proclaimed 'Beatrice'.

"Just an orange pop, in a sealed can," Charly replied. Beatrice noted it down in her leaf-pad before turning to Kai.

"Make it two," Kai commented, his usual was a Pepsi, coke, or a mountain dew, depending on his mood, but for not he decided to forget anything with caffeine or lemony taste. Beatrice nodded and walked away; Charly shook her head at that.

"There is one more thing Kai. Now don't flip your lid over this. But Vega and I went to visit Tom in the slammer to get some info out of him. He was very forthcoming, and he told us that he has a boss… he warned us that his boss, whoever he is, will not be pleased to see him behind bars and he told me 'warn Ghost before he really does become a ghost,' so I'm passing the info," Charly spoke, feeling proud of her lie, it was a dumb thing to do, but under no circumstances did it actually hint at her being in law enforcement, much less FBI.

"I see," Kai glanced at the dance floor as the music suddenly quieted down. Beatrice came back with their cans, still sealed as instructed. Charly reached into the small wooden box resting on the table of their booth against the wall and grabbed two individually wrapped in paper straws, offering one to Kai who rejected it, popping the can open he drank directly from the lip of it. Charly shrugged and popped her can before unwrapping and sticking both straws in it. "What else did he say?" he asked after taking another drink.

"Nothing much, it took me about twenty minutes out of the thirty allocated for the conference to threaten him into the point of speaking," Charly replied with a shrug. Kai grinned at that. Realizing how 'forthcoming' Tom must have been after being thoroughly chewed out by the two shrewish women that he knew Vega and Charly to be.

Meanwhile, Ace parked his car in a deserted parking lot by the beach. A black van was already waiting for him there, the marina in the background was deserted, and many sailboats were bobbing up and down on the waves. He killed the engine and go out, the van's door opened and a man climbed out, he was tall, about six feet, with black hair and brown eyes.

"Boss," the man acknowledged.

"Doppelganger," Ace responded, "You are early as ever."

"Yes boss, Terry told me I may serve you in some way," Doppelganger replied. Ace pulled out a small five by seven envelope and opened it pulling out a photograph he took earlier the night. It was of Kai and Charly during their brief talk at the participant parking lot.

"Doppelganger, I want you to disguise yourself as this man, and do something to the woman in the picture to break her trust in him. Now I don't want you to kill her, and I will kill you if there is even one cut on her, bruises will heal, but if you touch the face I will break your nose with my fist, understand Doppelganger?" Ace spoke.

"I get it, but it will take me some time to get a costume ready," the man, Doppelganger replied.

"You have three days, no more, I'm an impatient man," Ace responded.

"Three days, plenty of time for me," the man responded, taking the photograph as reference for making the costume.

"One more thing, you are under no circumstances to force yourself unto her. I will throw you to the sharks off my yacht if you do that, don't test me Doppelganger," Ace added.

"Don't worry sir, I will not disappoint. Consider her trust in this man broken," Doppelganger replied.

"Good, his information is in the envelope, study it. And god have mercy on your soul if you botch this up, she is not a woman to trifle with and the man is not one to be messed with either. If you botch this up and she realizes you aren't who you seem you are, they will both probably kill you. So I wont have to," with that, said Ace walked back to his Ferrari, and drove off, heading down the beach boulevard to the marina that housed his docked yacht.

Back at the club, with the conversation done Kai walked Charly back to their cars, staying one step behind her. "I enjoyed that, really did… maybe we should meet for coffee or something sometimes," Charly proposed, she turned to him with a smile on her face. Her hand rose to rest nearly at his shoulder, "Thanks for the lovely evening," she whispered, leaning close so that the gossiping banshee women still present in the parking lot would not only have something to gossip about, but it was something to make them jealous about. When she did lean in close she caught a whiff of his cologne, having not noticed it before because of the miniscule amount that there was. She could tell it was expensive because most cheap colognes instantly made her allergic. Her mind almost autonomously memorized the scent even without the girl realizing it. She felt butterflies flutter in her stomach, an unfamiliar but not unpleasant sensation to her.

"You're welcome," he replied.

"Good night then," Charly stepped back and moved to her car, fishing in her pocket for the keys. A minute later she drove off, knowing that she still had matters with Vega to attend, like the latest developments with Tom. It was a load off her shoulders that she managed to warn Kai about the danger Tom insisted is real.

Charly arrived back at the HQ quarter to ten. The other girls were already waiting for her, looking rather irked by her tardiness.

"About time you showed up," Takara commented. Charly just grinned at her.

"Sorry about that, I got held up… time flies when having fun," she spoke.

"Alright whatever, lets not waste any more time," Vega stepped in. The group moved back to their living space, on the table before them were spread sheets of paper, some grainy photographs and what not.

"So what is this all about?" Charly picked up the data, it was a log of sorts on the latest thefts and drug heists happening in the city.

"Patterson and the boys down at the HQ managed to tie down the seemingly random shootings that have been happening all over the state together with the data Tom provided. You see, all the shooting have one thing in common, the place where the victim was shot. It's like a signature; in this case all of them were shot in the head, execution style. At a decent range as to avoid focused powder residues that can give ballistics a trajectory angle," Lilly explained, she was after all, the group's munitions expert.

"Hmm… and Tom says that these things are all done by his boss?" Charly wondered scanning down the data. "Most of these shootings happened in San Francisco, it's out of LAPD hands. Although it is well within the jurisdiction of the FBI."

"Tom says a lot of things, but I get the feeling he knows more than he lets on, it's as if he's feeding the FBI data on a need to know basis. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was getting orders even in the slammer," Hikaru voiced. Charly scanned the papers some more, the data they had was very impersonal, only dates and times of shooting. It contained nothing that could lead them to the perpetrator.

"This strikes me odd, the dates and times of these five shootings here, they are all within two hours of each other, these three happened in LA, but these two in SF, there is no way the assassin, if it was indeed one person, could have moved so precisely time-wise so quickly. This is a gang effort, that guy whoever he is, has a whole group to him, and I dare not bet on how many exactly, could be dozens. Could be hundreds," Charly motioned to the five shootings that happened over six months ago, she remembered reading of the incidents.

"Unless we get more data, we wont be able to solve this case," Vega stepped in. Charly glanced at her watch and frowned mildly, she was tired from the racing and now this.

"I think I'm going to call it a night, I'm tired," Charly commented. It was then the girls remembered her little 'previous engagement' as Vega called it after she got off the phone with the leader.

"So where were you?" Lilly wondered.

"_Ghost_ and I had a little chat, I found an excuse to tell him of the threat that Tom mentioned," Charly stressed his street name, as to not make it seem personal in any possible way.

"So what did you tell him?" Hikaru wondered.

"I told him that Vega and I went to visit Tom in the slammer to drag the info out of him," Charly responded calmly.

"She always drags me into her little lies," Vega commented.

"Alright argue about my merits without me please," Charly walked off, she felt like collapsing right about now, she was tired. As she paused by the bathroom she shrugged, 'a small evening bath to get the knots out never hurt anyone,' she thought going into her room to retrieve her robe and bath foam.

**_Author Notes:_**_ I bet you guys enjoyed that little K/C moment there, didn't you? On the next exciting chapter of Dangerous Games, Ace's trap springs into action, and it has interesting results. Review! Or else I'll update slowly!_


	15. Springing The Fox Trap

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Doppelganger does his misdeed leaving craters behind, read on to find out what he does exactly!

**__**

**_Chapter #15:_**  _Springing The Fox Trap_

Two evening passed by slowly. Uneventfully, the girls were mostly busy with their case. Busting their minds on the limited data they were getting. But after getting nowhere very fast, the girls decided to take a break.

Charly found herself sitting in a booth at the local club, a glass of coke in her hands. She was watching the people dance as she mused over things that were happening. She didn't even notice that she was sitting in the same booth as the time she was here with Kai. Her eyes drifted to seat across from her, in which she could still see a ghost like reflection of the young man. Except her fantasy ghost was smiling, which Charly knew Kai didn't do often, she was yet to see him do it. But she could imagine he would look dazzling, absentmindedly she spun the cubes of ice in her glass around with her straw. 'Dazzling doesn't begin to describe him he's…' that's when she realized what she was thinking and promptly ducked her head, blushing scarlet. 'Bad! Bad! Bad! He wouldn't see you like that… hell the minute he finds out you're FBI, he's going to be opposite from smiling, he'll be pissed,' Charly thought.

"Alone tonight?" a voice asked. Charly looked up, she saw Beatrice, the waitress from the night before, standing over her, a round tray under her arm.

"Yes…" Charly paused. Glancing back at the dance floor. Beatrice sat down across from her, putting her tray noiselessly on the table.

"You seem like you have something on your mind, care to share? I am always willing to listen to a sister's plight," she spoke.

"Thanks Beatrice, but I do not feel like sharing," Charly looked at the dance floor again.

"That's your choice, but let me tell you something. If it's a man who's got you so blue, he probably isn't worth it. Now I better get back to my job, alright?" Beatrice moved to get up.

"Thanks, but Beatrice… you're wrong there, he's worth it. But there is no way in hell he'll see me that way," Charly spoke after her. Beatrice nodded once putting her tray under her arm.

"Don't worry girl, you should just tell him how you feel," with that said Beatrice walked away, leaving Charly to wonder what the dark-skinned woman meant by that.

'How I feel?' Charly asked herself, 'I don't even know how I feel, how can I tell him?' Getting up she approached the bar and gave the barkeep the money for her drink before exiting the club. She couldn't stay inside, because she couldn't stop thinking, so she decided to take a drive around the nighttime L.A.

Some distance away, a black van stood, Doppelganger's black van. The man inside was smirking as he spotted his target. The smile only widened as he realized the girl was alone, the only possible person that could save her, wasn't with her. 'Figures those women were wrong when they said she was often seen with Ghost,' Doppelganger thought to himself. As he watched the red Celica drive off, he turned on the engine of his own van, following a discreet distance. With a car as flashy as the Celica was, following it was not a problem. He followed the Celica all the way to the nearest beach. Surprised by the fact, but yet pleased that the location was away from prying eyes. Killing the engine of the van he moved back to get his costume in order, completely ignoring the Mr. Rooter van standing five lanes away.

Charly strolled along the beach; close to surf lapping the shore, yet far enough so that the water did not reach her. By night the ocean looked like endless inky darkness on which candles floated in the distance, lights of small sailboats, and one or two larger boats. She paused as a particularly strong wave lapped the shore, with the breeze of the evening. She closed her eyes as she felt small droplets of ocean mist fall on her.

She turned around when she felt eyes on her, someone was watching her, and it gave her a creepy feeling, one she didn't particularly care for. In the distance she saw a somewhat familiar silhouette of a tall dual-color haired man. But there was something odd about him now, his eyes looked colder. Charly watched him approach slowly. "Good evening," he spoke.

"Hey," Charly replied smiling a little, she decided that she was being paranoid; he probably followed her from the club. But what stroke her odd was that she didn't remember seeing his GT behind her.

Doppelganger smiled, it was obvious the girl was buying it. His costume was flawless, a piece of art, from the wig to the color contacts, "You should really be here alone at night," he spoke.

"It's okay, I got my guns. It's not the first time I came here alone, it's just so peaceful. So quiet here," Charly replied turning away from him, glancing back unto the inky darkness of the ocean.

Back on the parking lot, the Mr. Rooter van moved as a camera appeared on its roof, panning to watch the two figures. Inside a man was monitoring the devices.

"Josh, here… we have something. Look, Patterson may want to know. Charlene is after all seeing that Ghost fellow like Patterson suspected," one agent dressed in black spoke to the other. Josh smirked and pressed record on the secondary VCR to show Patterson the tape later.

Charly for some reason didn't feel comfortable with him like she normally did, 'Probably what Beatrice said,' she tried to excuse the case of nerves.

"You're right," the Doppelganger spoke, a growing malicious grin on his features, "It is peaceful here, perhaps a little too much. Here no one can hear one scream," he explained. He raised his hand and with a sharp jerk placed it on her mouth, the girl instantly stiffened and mumbled something before trying to scream. "You scream… and I will break you neck, got it?" he hissed, leaning down over her shoulder.

The agents in the van jumped at the sight, "Josh! Man call backup! Ghost is making a move! We have a potential… rape in progress!" One agent called. The other, Josh grabbed a phone and instantly called for backup.

Charly struggled with all her might against the captive hold, 'this is not happening! Kai told me he didn't do rape… he lied! He LIED!' the alarms were buzzing through her mind a mile a minute. He came around and lowered his hand to be around her neck, squeezing rather painfully, restricting her ability to breathe or scream. Then he suddenly leaned closer and was just an inch away from her, Charly took in a deep breath as revulsion filled her. Her nose caught on a strange scent, and it was not a pleasant one. "You're all mine fox," he hissed. Charly closed her eyes; she felt a tight hold on her arm. As she breathed again, she caught unto that scent again, this time she paid attention to it. Her nose began to itch.

'He can't be Kai… no he's not Kai,' she thought, "You're not Kai! And I'm not yours!" with one violent jerk she was free, one of her guns in her hand. Not bothering to aim she ran back to the parking lot, trying her best not to stumble, she knew he was chasing after her, whoever he was. A sneeze finally built up and she nearly stumbled with it. She put her gun away as she approached the wood and metal parking lot fence, putting her hands on the wooden post she remember her high school gym class and leaped over it as if that fence was a hurtle. She ran, blinded by tears, although her mind told her it was not Kai, her heart was not listening. In a flash she reached her car, is a second she was inside, a second later the car drove off, wheels screeching.

Doppelganger cursed, wondering how she saw through his costume. Running to his van he was inside in a second, just as sirens began to blare in the distance, the black van drove off. The Mr. Rooter van being too late to block its path.

"Patterson wont like this," Josh spoke inside the Mr. Rooter van.

"Doesn't matter, we know its Ghost. He won't elude us for long," The other agent replied. Meanwhile the police cars stopped and the agents got out, protocol had to be followed, and they had to tell the cops whom to arrest.

Charly arrived back at the base, looking ruffled. The girls instantly noticed this. And Lilly was instantly concerned for her friend.

"What's wrong?" Hikaru asked.

"Some… some guy tried to assault me," Charly bit out, "He was disguised like Kai, but it wasn't Kai, I know it wasn't," Charly was numb all over, her mind wanted to believe that, but her heart was not listening. Who would have profit in disguising himself as Kai to get to her?

"Oh man," Hikaru spoke glancing at Lilly and Takara who were silent, "Are you sure it wasn't him?"

"Yes I'm positive, whoever it was, didn't have a GT packing," with that said Charly moved to her room, too ruffled to even continue explanations, she slumped on her bed as soon as she could, rolling over she buried her face in the pillows and began to cry.

The girls exchanged glances after Charly ran off. They were baffled by all of this. "Who's calling Patterson?" Lilly asked.

"Not me, he wont believe that it wasn't Kai, even if Charly comes up with a darn good excuse. He's a fed, and I do not want to be the one to face the wrath of Kai's buddies for ratting out on him," Hikaru retorted.

"I think we should let Charly get over it for the night, we will ask her what to do in the morning," Takara proposed. The other two girls nodded in agreement.

The next morning, Kai was outside of their base, washing his car after the final tune-ups. When he saw a police car approach, an eyebrow rose in surprise, it was rare for police to be here. He saw two officers get out of the cruiser; one had his hand on the butt of his gun.

"Are you Kai Hiwatari?" one asked. Kai nodded, weary of the two of them he was caught off guard when one officer grabbed him by the shoulders, and the other pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"You are under arrest for premeditated sexual assault. You have the right to remain silent. Should you forfeit that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in court. You have the right to an attorney, if you can not afford one, the court will provide one," the officer recited the rights by memory as he was cuffing him.

"What's going on?" Kai demanded, he didn't struggle with the cops, better not add 'resistance during arrest' to that charge list.

"Don't play dumb, we aren't buying. We have it on tape, thinking that just because it's a beach, that you could get away with it. You didn't count on the girl having a trail, did you?" the other officer spoke. The officer pushed him into the back seat of the cruiser, a bit rougher than needed, slamming the door behind him, the automatic lock clicked down, before both officers got in the front and the cruiser drove off. Kai was confused, baffled even by what was going on.

The cruiser arrived at a large official looking building; he was pulled from the backseat of the car and dragged inside like a common criminal. As he made the first step into the building, he noticed the amounts of strange people there, women, illegal prostitutes, drunken bikers, and what not; it was a cliché of what a police precinct looked like.

"Give him a cell Wally, he'll be having guests soon. One Leonard Patterson from the FBI, and boy when he called he was not happy about something," another officer approached as the officer holding him, presumably Wally, dragged him into an empty temporary cell.

"I hope you're happy, ten years that's what you'll get for this," Wally spoke.

"I didn't do it!" Kai retorted coldly, knowing that the officer probably heard it a million times before.

"If I had a dime for every time a bastard like you said that, I'd have a mansion in Hawaii by now," Wally responded as he undid his cuffs and shoved him in before locking the barred door and walking off.

Kai slumped on the bench and put his elbows on his knees, letting his hands fall foreword, hanging his head low. Half an hour ago he was washing his car, now he was in jail. He didn't know what was happening, and what more, he knew he didn't do it, but no one else believed him. And if they did have video, then that left only an impersonator, but that was one thing videos weren't too good at, discerning the real person from an impersonator. No one even told him who the woman in question was, but he knew it was probably someone who he came in contact with. And that list wasn't long, one name sprang to mind and it made his blood boil. How could someone use his image to get to her? And whom did he sour enough to do that. 'Good God… help me,' he thought.

**_Author Notes:_**_ There you have it. Doppelganger has caused his damage. Will Charly figure things out, and what will happen to Kai? For all these answers stick around to the next explosive chapter of Dangerous Games! You WONT regret it!_


	16. Case Stands

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Charly comes to bail out Kai. And explains how she knew it wasn't him. Will she be able to keep her cover in tact?**__**

**__**

**_Chapter #16:_**  _Case Stands_

Half an hour later Kai looked up, not realizing that he stared at the floor the whole time. He heard keys in the lock and was half praying to see a familiar face that would explain him what was going on. But what he saw was far from familiar. There was an officer with another man behind him dressed in a gray suit. The man was in his fifties; the frown on his face made him look ten years older. The barred door opened and the man stepped in.

"Kai Hiwatari," the man spoke.

"Pardon but I don't know you," Kai replied.

"Leonard Patterson, don't get smart with me. Trust me, I seen enough of your type to know how low and dastardly you are," the man sat across from him.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," Kai retorted in a monotonous voice.

"Explain this then," Leonard reached into his briefcase and pulled out a eight by ten blown up picture of what appeared to be him, holding a woman by the neck, Kai recognized the girl and wished that he didn't see it. Charly, his blood boiled, how could anyone dare do that to her? It was then he realized that the girl was probably the reason why he was here, she thought it was him. And he realized that she must be in terrible condition now, and it hurt to think that the girl would think he would do something like that. Especially after all they were through.

"It's not me," Kai spoke in a low tone.

"Don't lie, we have enough video to know it was you. Now admit it, you did it. I want to know why," Leonard paused at that.

"It wasn't me! I swear, it wasn't me! I would never do this to her! She's my… friend! After the things we been through, I would never use her, betray her like that!" his voice died at those words. Patterson watched the young man, it was evident that he truly believed he didn't do it, but the evidence was really against him on this one. Video did not lie, so why would this man try to? Not unless he really didn't have anything to lose.

"Suppose it wasn't you, explain this then," Leonard continued.

"I can't really explain it. But my theory is that someone disguised himself as me to get to her. I don't know who or why," he stopped again. Realizing that he was definitely forfeiting his right to remain silent.

"You want to see her?" Leonard asked next, surprising Kai.

"What?" Kai looked up at that.

"Do you want to see Charlene? If she will believe you that it wasn't you, then I will have to believe too. If she doesn't want to press charges against you, it's her right, and I cannot force her to," Leonard explained.

"How is she?" Kai asked, his voice cracking, he wanted to know what whoever did this, did to her.

"She's a tough girl, she escaped with bruises. Bottom line is if she wishes to see you, I can arrange for that. But I have to know, do you want to see her and try to plead your case with her, because right now. The only thing that is keeping your ass out of the penitentiary is her word," Leonard took the picture back and put it back in his brief case. He watched the emotionless young man before him, although his face showed no emotions, he could see the man was ruffled, which gave him credentials to believing him. He was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and allow him to plead his case to the real judge and jury, the woman who he supposedly assaulted. Silence in the room was deafening.

"Yes… I want to see her, I want to see her as soon as possible, and I have to apologize for not being there to prevent this. Had I agreed to the alliance she wanted to form. This wouldn't have happened," Kai whispered. Leonard was surprised to hear this coming from a supposedly unfeeling emotionless thug he heard about from his agents in the neighborhood.

"I will have her brought in today, I suggest you try to get as comfortable as possible. And you might want to get some rest, you look like paper," with that Patterson stood up and approached the cell's gate, motioning for the officer to open it.

"Thank you," he heard the young man behind him whisper. Patterson didn't reply, he just stepped out of the cell and allowed the officer to lock it up. Kai watched him go before deciding to take up the man on his suggestion; he laid back on the prison bench, putting his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. The only thing he could think about was the girl he supposedly wronged. He was now more than sure that an imposter was involved, and he wasn't mad at the girl. She was probably so emotionally hurt that she believed what her eyes showed her. He couldn't be mad at her for that, but now he had a tough challenge in front of him, proving to her that he didn't do it. And that, he could tell, was going to be the hardest thing he had yet to do.

Charly left the base by noon, after having received a phone call from Patterson via the secure wireless. They had Kai; she was in a state of shock, still undecided over what happened last night. But she was sure of one thing he owed her an explanation. And with luck, he could finally stop the war her logic and emotions were having right now. Her logic telling her that it was Kai, her emotions telling her that it wasn't. She wanted to believe it wasn't, she wanted to cling to the image of him being a noble thug, a misunderstood stranger. Someone like her, someone she could relate to, but she also knew that she could've had him all wrong the whole time, and he could've been a liar, a very good liar.

Meanwhile, in L.A harbor. Connor's yacht was docked and Doppelganger was walking up the gangplank, no longer in his costume. He met up with Terry who led him to his boss's office. The door opened and Doppelganger stepped in.

"Good Job Doppelganger," Connor said as soon as he saw him.

"I failed boss, she got away from me. And she recognized that I wasn't Ghost," Doppelganger confessed.

"That matters not, figures that particular night she had a trail. The white Mr. Rooter van in the parking lot, it saw 'Ghost' assault her. I just got a call from my operative on the inside; they have him in custody, and with the evidence against him. He'll be serving ten years for sure. I think congratulations are in order Doppelganger, you not only broke her trust in him, but you also put him in Jail, you saved me some valuable time," Connor spoke.

"I am glad that I was of some assistance Mr. Donovan sir," Doppelganger replied.

"Some my friend? Oh no… you were of very much assistance, and I decided to give you a raise for such an achievement," Connor stood up from his chair and pulled out a briefcase from behind the table. "Fifty grand base pay, per our agreement. And twenty more for such a great achievement, I think you agree that is most generous," Connor spoke, putting the briefcase on the desk he opened it, allowing the man to see the nearly bundled twenty dollar bills in the briefcase.

"Thank you Mr. Donovan," Doppelganger closed the case and took it by the handle.

"That is all, I will call again if I need further assistance, you are free to go," Connor added. Doppelganger bowed and left the cabin, closing the door behind himself. He left the yacht, happy that he wasn't fed to the sharks.

Charly arrived at the precinct in a flurry of attention. Wally was the first to spot the woman, having seen the photograph of her and the 'bastard of cell thirteen' so dubbed by the other officers who hated the thought of another innocent woman being involved in a sex crime.

"Ma'am," Wally took off his hat and nodded to her.

"I want to see Kai," Charly demanded in a tone of authority.

"Right this way, he was moved to a conference room for your privacy from other inmates, however we do have a camera and a microphone monitoring it, for your safety," Wally explained. Charly nodded, she knew protocol and she didn't like it, but she figured it would not be a good idea to order them to take the camera and microphone offline by flashing her badge and asserting her authority over the situation since she was a FBI agent.

Wally led her to a room with a reinforced door and opened it. The room was semi-dark, lit on by a single weak florescent lamp on the ceiling. The only furniture in the room was a small square table and two chairs. And there he was, sitting in the corner, looking down at the floor, not even bothering to look up at her.

"I'll leave you two alone, if you need out just knock on the door, by request you have no time limit. Mr. Leonard Patterson insisted," Wally explained. Charly looked away from Kai to nod at the officer, when she turned back she found herself drowning in Kai's eyes. Wally walked out and closed the soundproof door behind him just as the girl's rigid demeanor vanished, to be replaced by a hurt one.

"Hi," she spoke meekly, drawing closer, weary of him. He didn't speak, just looked at her with a look in his eyes akin to that of a lost puppy seeking answers from strangers. "Say something," she prompted, wanting to hear him speak, if only to reassure herself that last night it wasn't him. She remember that man's voice sounding higher than Kai's soft tenor voice, a voice that would make Luciano Pavarotti green with envy.

"What is there to say… aside from, I didn't do it. But… you're not likely to believe that, are you?" he spoke finally, voice quiet, almost too quiet to be heard. Charly took the second chair and moved it to sit by his side, close enough to be able to take hold of his hand, she glanced up into the corner of the room where she saw the camera mounted, doing a brief angle calculation she knew that it would not catch her small gesture of reassurance, more to herself than actually him, the table was in the way of the camera's view.

"Kai, I want to believe that it wasn't you… but if it wasn't you, who was it? He looked just like you, but… he didn't sound like you, and he was gruff, who was it?" she asked the second question in a tone that signified she was as confused as he was with all of this.

"I don't know, but I know it wasn't me. Have them call Tyson and Rei, I was all night at the base yesterday, we were playing poker and I was beating them too badly to stop," Kai confessed. He saw the girl smile, it was something he didn't realize he wanted to see, the heart warming smile of hers, one that could stop any man's heart cold, only to accelerate it a second later.

"I will, don't worry. And I think I believe you, you told me you don't do that sort of things, I believed you then. And I still do, if you were guilty, you wouldn't be looking like a lost puppy right now," Charly explained.

"I do no look like a lost puppy," Kai grumbled, flashing her a small glare, that caused the smile to appear again, followed by some laughter. He felt her hands take hold of his as she got up, forgetting about the camera she tugged him up as well.

"Trust me, you look like a very lost, but a very… cute puppy," she replied. Blushing a bit at that, now their joined hands were in plain view of the camera.

Wally who was watching the screen, his eyebrows flew up at that. He glanced at the officer who was sitting next to him, "How many times did you see a girl hold the hands of the guy who assaulted her the night before like that?" he asked.

"Never," the other officer replied, Wally turned back to the screen.

"I'm beginning to believe him," he spoke, causing the other officer to look at him oddly, "If anything those two look like a pair of high school love birds, look at him. With that look on his face, I doubt he's able to think straight looking at her, much less come up with a premeditated rape scenario," Wally glanced at his partner who nodded.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So do the cops buy it, or is Wally the only one sane enough to understand? More to come!_

**_Note:_**_ Luciano Pavarotti in case you guys don't know is famous for his Tenor voice! I just love making these analogies._


	17. The Truth Emerges

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 17. Charly is now posed with a difficult task, maintaining her cover when Kai is in the same room with her as Leonard Patterson.

**__**

**_Chapter #17:_** _The Truth Emerges_

Back in the room Charly was still holding his hands, their fingers intertwined without either of them noticing. Suddenly the girl lunged foreword and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Taking in the pleasant smell of his cologne, that was the final clue she needed, the smell of the rich expensive cologne that she doubted any other thugs bothered to wear. Her hands let go of his as one rose to his chest. Without his button-up shirt, he was only in his muscle shirt. And now in the murky darkness of the room, it contoured his built form in a very attractive way.

"Will you still hurt me for touching you?" Kai asked, his voice rumbling in his rib cage, against her ear.

"Huh?" Charly looked up at him.

"Remember, back when we were caught. When you… gave in to Thomas, after that, you said you would hurt me if I touched you in any way you didn't like, will you still hurt me?" Kai replied, knowing how ludicrous he sounded right now, and how it probably sounded to anyone who was monitoring the room like he knew they were, but he didn't care, he just reveled in the fact that the girl believe him, she knew he was innocent.

"No, anyone… anyone else but you," Charly replied, she was drowning the pools of molten chocolate that were Kai's fathomless eyes, he was looking at her with tenderness radiating out of him in wave, something that the camera did not miss with its unblinking stare.

"Good," Kai whispered, winding his arms around her waist, drawing her closer. He just hugged her; this was neither the place nor time for anything more. 'Anything more? What more?' he thought confused with himself. "Can I ask you something?" he whispered, not wanting to scare her away from the position they were in. He found it oddly calming, comforting to hold the woman in his arms.

"Anything," Charly replied, the feeling of his familiar warmth, knowing that this was him now, and no one disguised as him was comforting. Knowing that he was truly innocent, and that someone framed him made her want to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible.

"How did you know he wasn't me?" Kai asked, ducking his head low to whisper into her ear, causing the girl to shiver as his warm breath came in contact with the skin of her neck.

"I supposed I should tell you. You see… it was a combination of three things. He was about three inches too tall to be you. His voice was raspy, as if he smokes; now I know you don't. And then… there is my allergy for strong scents, his cologne made me sneeze. Yours…" the girl blushed, "I like yours," she whispered. Kai mused over all this, he wondered when she had a chance to sniff out that before, and his mind drew back to their little 'conversation' three days before. The hug if one could call it that, in the parking lot. He looked down at her blushing; he realized that the girl paid attention to even the most subtle details about him, and it made him tint pink a little.

"So much for platonic," he whispered, causing her to blush deeper and move out of his arms. He realized how dumb that was to say and crossed his arms, putting his mask of indifference back on.

"Indeed… So much for platonic," she replied with a smile.

Outside the room, Leonard Patterson approached the room, glancing at the two officers monitoring the surveillance camera installed in the room, "How are things in there?" he asked. Wally looked up and grinned.

"Well sir… if we didn't know any better, I'd say we had a pair of high school love birds locked in that cage," he spoke. His smile did not transfer to Leonard who instead frowned.

"Anything happened?" he asked.

"Nothing, he didn't so much as raise his voice," the other officer replied, he had a pair of headphones on and was listening to the conversation going on inside. And by the smile on his face, Leonard could tell it was more a smile of discomfort than actually amusement.

"I want to talk to them," Leonard spoke. Wally got up and grabbed the keys, moving to open the door. The second it was open Charly was looking up at it, Kai stopped looking like a sheet of overhead projector transparency paper, and by the blush on the girl's cheeks Leonard could tell why the other officer outside was uncomfortable.

"Good day," Leonard spoke.

"Sir," Charly bit out. She glanced at Kai and wondered if he knew about the badge and ID. But looking at his confused expression she knew he was still clueless, good, she wanted to tell him when the opportunity presented itself, not now.

"So it would seem you're lucky Hiwatari, she believe you," Leonard addressed Kai. Charly chuckled, muffling the sound with her hand, Leonard referred to people by their last name often, but since it didn't have a suffix or prefix it meant the man was trusting of that person.

"As I said, I did not do it, I knew Charlene would believe me," Kai replied.

"How do you know?" Leonard asked, both were ignoring the girl still in the room; it was a war of wits, between the thug and the seasoned FBI agent. And neither wanted to lose it.

"If I may Sir," Charly stepped in between the two men; she did not want to see the situation play out due to the fact that it would not be pretty.

"What is it?" Leonard asked, turning his gaze on the woman now.

"I would like to explain how I know about the fact that Kai wasn't the man who I had a brush in last night. It's a combination of three reasons. One Kai is not tall enough; he's about oh, three inches shorter than that man. If I may have the photograph I will show you that to the man I barely reach shoulder level, with Kai…" Charly moved to stand next to the boy, showing Leonard that next to him she stood comfortably at shoulder level. "As you can see," Charly waited a second as Leonard pulled out the photograph, indeed in the picture the girl was below shoulder level, even with the sand under them such a striking difference was not possible.

"Go on," Leonard continued.

"Second reason, his voice. The man last night had a voice of a clear smoker, raspy and unpleasant, I can probably recognize that man by his voice alone, it was that distinct, he also had a bit of a suppressed British accent, Kai has an American accent," Charly paused again.

"Alright, if you say," Leonard glanced at the man who was fidgeting now, a sign that he was uncomfortable, but not nervous, he was more likely to be embarrassed by the discussion than nervous of it.

"Third, Kai doesn't go anywhere without his car, it's a one in a million, I could point it out blindfolded by touch alone, the only car I saw on the parking lot when I was fleeing was a black van, and a Mr. Rooter van," Charly continued. Kai was surprised that she omitted the one about his cologne, but he figured it was better this way, her knowing that much would imply intimacy they didn't have. Intimacy that he realized he wasn't against having. "Speaking which, I remember the license plate of that black van, I need to submit that in," Charly added.

"If you are positive it isn't this man, then I have nothing to hold against him. We will investigate the crime and notify you if any suspects are found," Leonard glanced at the man behind his agent and nodded to him. "He is free to go as soon as we fill out the release forms, but listen to me Hiwatari, I better not find you on any international travel lists until this case is solved. If you fly the coop, I will take it that you did it, and this time… may god have mercy on your soul, I'm gonna make sure you get twenty years, not ten! Is that clear? No one messes with my people," Leonard glared at him.

"Crystal," Kai glanced at Charly, who smiled and looked at him before putting her hand on his chest, patting the spot over his heart once she turned to the door, 

"Come, I don't think they will mind you filling out your own forms," she spoke. Kai followed, with Leonard behind him. Wally shrugged and closed the door and glanced at his partner.

"You owe me ten," the other officer mumbled, Wally shrugged, "They didn't kiss."

An hour later they were out of that building, the ride home in Charly's Celica was a silent one, like a graveyard at night, neither of the vehicle's occupants spoke and nor did they wished to.

            Kai glanced at her and then away again, he couldn't help but feel, even despite himself, hurt that she'd thought that the low-life whoever he was could be him. She knew him better than that.

            Little did he know that Charly's thoughts were riding along the same track. Mentally she was berating herself; how could she have ever possibly thought that Kai would do something like that to her? He had told her straight up what he didn't do. She should've known better.

            "Kai-"

            "I don't want to talk about it, Charly," he cut her off, voice low and monotone.

            She felt chills race up her spine, and not the warm-fuzzy kind. She swallowed and spared a glance at him before looking back to the road. 

"I'm sorry."

            "I am too. Charly, I thought we went over that. I thought I made it clear exactly what kind of guy I was… I thought you knew that I'd never intentionally hurt you, not like that… never like that."

            Charly swallowed and kept driving, turning down a road foreign to Kai and then into a full service gas station, She killed the engine with a flick of her keys and turned in her seat to face him. Watching the gas boys open the hatch to the Celica's gas tank, filling it up with enriched Shell fuel. The man beside her didn't bother to meet her gaze. "Kai, I'm sorry," she hissed. "You did tell me that and I was the fool to think anything different. You would never lie to me about something like that, _never_, I know that now, I was such an idiot. I let the fact that I've never been able to trust anyone in my life get the better of my trust in you. I never should have believed for a second that imposter was you."

            He sighed a little but didn't turn to face her. "It was never your fault," he muttered, "you weren't the one that turned me in, someone else did. That's half the reason I went to jail and the other half is my own bloody fault. The suspicions that I'm not guilty of go with the territory of being in my business, Charly, I'm not a good person, I never was and you had the right to make those assumptions… It just… it hurts me to think that you thought I'd try to do something like that to you. Murder just proves you're a coward and drugs kill the system, but rape… that's about as low as one can get."

            He felt Charly's warm hand gently stroke his right cheek as she turned his face so his eyes would meet hers; he was shocked rigid at the contact. "No matter what you do, Kai," she began softly, "you are one of the strongest, most upright guys I have ever met. Thank you… for proving to me that there are some good men still in existence."

            Kai took her hand gently in his and kissed the back of her knuckles tenderly. For along while he just sat there thinking, his eyes trained on the neon glowing radio clock. In his mind he was trying to summarize his feelings for her. Every other woman he'd met was attracted to him for one, his looks, Two, his reputation, or Three, the fact that the 'chase' was worth it. 

Charly wanted none of that. She knew more about him than he cared anyone to, and now, despite her knowledge she still cared. "And thank you for proving to me that some women aren't fame and glory-digging hounds… and for staying… I know I'm intolerable sometimes but you've stuck around anyways." With that he met her eyes for a moment and then looked away, releasing her hand.

Charly bit her lip and said nothing as she started the car once more. A gas boy came around, with a machine; Charly lowered her window and pulled out her credit card, swiping it on the machine. She grabbed the receipt a second later and drove off, silence once again reigning in the car.

**_Author Notes:_**_ I bet you guys thought a kiss would happen in the car? Sorry nope… still too soon for the trust they had is in shambles all because of Doppelganger, can our two intrepid heroes get it back on track, or is the patient too far gone? Stick around to find out!  
  
_

**_Further Notes:_**_ my friend once again lent me her hand. 'Chaotic Good' wrote that scene in the car_


	18. Unraveling The Mystery

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 18. Tala begins to suspect things. But to prove them he has to face a woman whose name should be 'Cobra' not 'Sting' because she is as dangerous as one.

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**_Chapter #18:_**  _Unraveling The Mystery_

Charly dropped Kai off as close to their base as possible without being seen by his gang. He walked the rest of the way, finding his GT was missing from its place at the parking spot where he was washing it. So was the hose, he stepped into the base, and shook his head, there was his GT, washed and gleaming. Undoubtedly one of the guys moved it in when he went missing. Probably Kenny, because Tyson knew he would have his ass skewered for touching his car, Rei was away all day, in the city, putting their latest winning and money into their accounts, he was the only one aside from Kenny that Tala and Kai trusted not to take half of their share to himself, even Max had a quirk to take a portion for 'service' since he hated going to the bank. Said red-haired Russian never went to the bank unless he had a good reason. He didn't like the traffic in the city; it was always congested to the point that one had to sit for an hour in traffic to get from these areas downtown.

Kai walked into the living are of the base and spotted Max, who instantly looked up, "Kai! Where were you?" he asked.

"Downtown, with the cops," Kai replied gruffly, idly rubbing his wrists, he could still feel the cold press of the handcuffs there.

"Why?" Max asked.

"Some faggot decided it would be oh so hilarious to impersonate me and try to get lucky with Fox last night, some cop saw it and thought that it was me. I had to spend a good portion of the day in a cell where I had a really interesting conversation with FBI," Kai explained.

"By get lucky… do you mean, oh man… poor Fox," Max got up from his seat on the couch, "So you're in the clear now?" he asked.

"No I'm out on a sort of a bail, she showed up, but it wasn't her who ratted on me, she knew I wasn't him. Whoever him was," Kai voiced. Max scratched the back of his head idly, a gesture that showed his confusion.

"I can't believe you let her do that to you," Tala cut in, Kai glared at him. The tall Russian was leaning against a wall, left foot on the wall itself, and knee bent, arms folded over his chest.

"Whatever," Kai grumbled.

"Give him a break Tala, if there was an imposter involved, even if she ratted on Kai, it's not her fault. You know… they say rape is the worst thing a woman can go through, I think right now, she's the one who probably really feels like a victim," Max jumped in. Kai let the two argue without him being in the same room; right now he needed rest, and a shower.

"I still say we should set some thing straight," Tala argued, "And if a cop saw Kai, how come the FBI are involved, something doesn't add up."

Max shrugged, "Leave them alone, they will sort out things on their own," with that said he slumped back on the couch and resumed watching the Lakers game he was watching before Kai arrived.

Tala glared at the blond youth before turning to the garage, he had a bone to pick with Fox's groupies, and he was adamant about finding out what was going on. To him, more and more, the girls seemed to be hiding something, and he was beginning to doubt their connection the cops, after their previous brush in with them after the episode with the Black Diamond swine, he should've known something was amiss. That time the cops let them off a tad too easily, and now this, Rape charges were heavy, unless the girl had some concrete proof that it wasn't Kai that did this, he could only have gotten out so soon if she pulled some strings, which meant she had power, power over cops, power that only two organizations in the USA had, the FBI, and the CIA. Power that could potentially make her a target to every thug in the neighborhood, and since she was in ties with Kai, could potentially make them all a target. He got into his Nissan, jamming the keys into the ignition, making the car roar to life like a lion. A second later he was off, with luck his own investigation would yield some fruit, if only he could find the other woman who probably knew as much, if not more, as Red Fox, her more elusive best friend, Sting.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Leonard Patterson arrived at the L.A penitentiary. He walked into the large conference room and sat down at a desk. With things going on as they were with Charlene he was in no mood to talk to another spineless thug, but he was called here because said thug wanted to talk to him.

The door of the conference room opened and a guard ushered in an inmate wearing orange jailhouse clothes. The man frowned but sat down, placing his cuffed hands on the table before him, "You know you can take these blasted things off me, I aint gonna kill your sorry asses," the man spoke.

"Shut up Thomas, I'm not in the mood for your bull," Patterson replied coldly, "You said you wanted to tell us something?" Tom shifted in his seat, looking at the older man strangely, he wasn't dumb, there were tell tale signs that told him that something bothered this seasoned FBI agent, he figured better rub it in while he's at it, for kicks.

"I want to discuss a safe cell, I tell you my boss will want my hide should he find out I been feeding you info," Tom began.

"I'm gonna have your bosses ass once you finally spill all, then you wont need a more secure cell," Patterson argued.

"True, but lemme tell you this… my boss is no easy target, I don't even know much, never spoke to the man personally. Don't even know his real name, the guy goes by about thirty different aliases, I only was in contact with him via orders brought in by courier, always a different courier," Tom paused at that, leaning back in his seat, "Now tell me copper, what the hell is bothering you, not that I care… but usually this conversation would involve a lot more colorful language."

"I'll tell you what been bothering me, you know that woman you tried to lay your grubby hands on? Red Fox?" Patterson paused; it was unusual for him to use his agent's street aliases.

"That Vixen? Damn she's fine… but yea I know," Tom raised his eyebrow at the man.

"Some faggot like you nearly raped her, and the worst part, was that he disguised himself as one of her friends, that is what been bothering me," Patterson replied.

"Lemme guess… Ghost right? Lemme tell you this, they aint friends, she has him jumping through hoops for her; the vixen is darn too cute for her own good. But I think I know what has been happening here," Tom leaned foreword again.

"It's none of your business," Patterson barked, Tom only chuckled at that.

"Sure it is my business, the man who did it is named Doppelganger, met the fellow once, he has quite a sunny disposition, if you know what I mean, the guy is an escape artist and can disguise himself as anyone with light skin, he works for my boss. Playing an assassin, thief, and framer, he's good at it too." Tom paused again, "Now I really should not be telling this because I already spoke too much, but I don't want that little Vixen taking the rage, sure she got my ass in here, but I don't want to see her go to that slime-ball Doppelganger. I've began to see things more clearly now that you guys took away my dope,"

That's as far as he got before Patterson lunged across the table and grabbed the felon by the neck, pulling him closer to eye level, "You better be speaking the truth about this… Doppelganger, because if you're not, god have mercy on your soul," he hissed.

"Chill Leo, I'm speaking the truth. I don't know his real name, I don't know much else about him, or even how he really looks. For all I know that time I met him, he was wearing a costume too. But I do know he drives a black van, license plate… lemme think for a second, it's been three years since I saw it. Ah I remember… 'BEL-492' maybe he changed it by now, but I tell you that's what I remember," Tom spoke. Patterson let him loose and Tom slumped into his chair, making it creak, "Ouch man, grip of steel," he muttered.

"That's the same plate and description Fox gave us, so you're not lying your lousy ass off," Patterson spoke, Tom just grinned. "I'll tell the guards to give you some TV time for good behavior, two hours a day shall be enough for now," Patterson noted.

"Oh goody, now I can watch the news. I wont have to hear gossip from my more privileged jailbird friends," Tom muttered sarcastically. Which earned him a glare from the older man sitting across from him. "You think I could get a movie package with that?" he asked.

"Don't push your luck punk," Patterson got up from his seat, and began to pace, "You seem talkative today, usually I have to shake you for info, literarily," Patterson noted.

"What can I say? Once the crack is gone, I seen the light, I'm not really a bad guy you know. Just I love to have fun, and for the record, I really wouldn't have done anything to your precious Vixen, just maybe steal a kiss, I don't force myself on girls… when I'm not high that is," Tom argued.

"I'm supposed to believe that?" Patterson glared murderously, Tom just shrugged.

"Willing to prove my worth,"

"And you probably will, now I have enough for today, you're off the hook for a while, until we find this Doppelganger," Patterson moved to the door, Tom watched him go and then glanced at the camera hanging in the corner of the room.

"Something tells me, I would've been better off as a doctor, like Mama insisted," Tom sighed and got up as guards appeared to take him back to his 'cozy' bullet/blast proof cell.

 Tala was cruising the neighborhood streets, trying to spot any signs of Fox's groupies, so far nothing. Glancing at the clock shining from his car stereo he shook his head, five PM. He was probably out far too early; they were probably the type to be night owls.

He was ready to give up on his quest due to lack of any sign of any of them when he spotted a familiar bike standing by an auto-parts shop. Stopping his Nissan he yanked out the keys and got out walking over to the shop. Inside he saw her, Sting, talking with the shop owner who was bragging about the latest part he received and thought would good on one of the gang's cars.

"Vega, I heard that Charlene took second prize last race, I was expecting first with that new intake," Bart spoke.

"She had other things to take care of, listen Bart, I know you got these parts and they're nice but that's not what I came here for. I need a small favor of you; I need you to tell me if anything suspicious happens. Also if you see anyone who looks to be too rich to be just a thief, tell me okay. Oh and don't ask why I want to know this," Vega glanced at Bark with a look in her eyes that signified him not to ask.

"Alright Sting, I'll tell you, now is there anything else? I got a customer coming in an hour for a body overhaul," Bart commented.

"Nah it's all good, Thanks Bart," Vega turned around and walked off, leaving the garage. She almost made her way to her bike when she spotted a familiar Nissan standing some distance away this caused her to frown.

"Sting," a voice said. Vega glanced to her right, spotting Tala she frowned.

"What do you want, Wolf?" she demanded.

"I want to know some things. What is up with Fox."

"Your boss didn't tell you?" Vega asked. Tala glared at her murderously, Vega blinked owlishly, totally unaffected by his murderous glare.

"I don't believe him, he's too trusting of Fox," Tala argued.

"And what is wrong with that?" Vega hissed.

"She was the one who sent him to the slammer in the first place! That is what wrong with that!" Tala replied gruffly. Vega rolled her eyes at him, Tala was too stubborn for his own good, and there was no one she disliked more than a stubborn thug.

"If she did, not saying she did, but suppose she did, why did she then bail him out?" Vega proposed. "That's right, things don't add up, do they?"

"That's one more thing, first she persuades the cops not to question us. Now she bails Kai out on attempted rape charges, those are severe charges; I don't have to be a cop to know that much. I want to know what the hell is going on here."

"It's none of your business," Vega made the move to walk away when Tala grabbed her by the shoulder, pausing her retreat.

"You aint going anywhere," he almost hissed, although his voice remained perfectly monotonous, Vega could hear the suppressed rage behind it.

"I suggest you get your hands off me… now," Vega commanded, the last word was said in almost a whisper; her hand inched to her waist. Tala saw the movement and grabbed her free hand with his own, effectively restraining her for the moment. This served to further irritate Vega.

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on, I got all night and a full gas tank, running wont help you," Tala replied, leaning over her shoulder so he could whisper in her ear. Vega's eyes narrowed to slits, one thing Tala missed. Another thing he didn't miss, the instantaneous change in her demeanor, all anger was gone as her body relaxed momentarily. He thought she would give, and relaxed his grip on her wrist, which proved to be a near fatal error.

With the speed of a striking cobra Vega wretched out of his grip and turned around, in a same fluent motion she reached into her jacket and pulled out a silver glimmering semi-auto, leveling it with his face. Before his eyes she disengaged the safety and Tala almost swore he heard the first slug slide into its position in the barrel. Her eyes were frozen ice solid.

"Should've listened pup when I told you to get your hands off me. I don't like filthy scum touching me, and there is a reason why not many dare, you're staring at it," Vega hissed.

"You wouldn't shoot me, if my theory is correct. Your protocol won't allow you to shoot me," he argued. Vega almost flinched at that. But the thug who she was still holding at gunpoint did not notice that flinch.

**_Author Notes:_**_ This is 18. Tala got on the wrong side of a dangerous situation. Can Vega maintain her group's cover in the face of this suspecting thug? You'll have to wait to find out! _


	19. Agents Unmasked

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Chapter 19. Tala concludes his investigation and corners Sting, but it would appear he got more than he bargained for. He now knows too much.

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**_Chapter #19:_**  _Agents Unmasked_

Vega held the gun raised high, she knew that he was right. Hell he knew she wouldn't shoot him. So what was the point? She couldn't very well shoot him to prove him wrong, so she lowered the gun, cursing him silently.

"I knew it," he jeered. Vega turned around, tucking her gun away, she hated this, but knew that it was the only thing she could do.

"You knew nothing," with that she began to walk back to her bike.

"You are not going anywhere!" Tala caught up in three steps and grabbed her by the shoulders again, "Not until you tell me everything I want to know."

"What do you want to know then, but I may not tell you."

"Who are you, and who are you working for, that's all," he stated the questions.

"I am Vega, Vega McLeod, and as to whom I work for. You know, I work for Red Fox, I'm her mechanic, also best friend," Vega replied coolly.

"That's what you tell everyone, I know that you work for someone of higher echelons. And I intend to find out who. I was suspicious the first time we walked away from the cops with not trouble. But now after the events with Fox, I know that you five have power. So confess, who the hell do you work for?"

"If I tell you, I will have to haul your ass off to the slammer," Vega whispered.

"I knew it! You were a cop!" Tala had that grin of triumph on his face, Vega's gut twisted as she turned around. She knew it was a major breach of protocol what she was about to do, but to get this thug to shut up and stop him from spreading rumors she had to do it.

"I can't tell you anything here, someone might be listening. So can we get a more private place, not a club thank you," she proposed. Tala let go of her shoulders, letting her turn around.

"Fine, you're riding with me, tell that mechanic buddy of yours to keep an eye on your bike," he ordered.

"I am not trusting Bart with my bike. If you want the answers, you're going to have to trust me to follow you," Vega replied, "Think of it as my side of the bargain."

"Fine, but if you pull something… I'm going to personally torture the information out of you," the thug responded gruffly. Vega chuckled and drew neared, raising her hand, passing a finger over his chest.

"I'd like to see you try," she hissed.

Charly woke up in her room, after having cried herself to sleep. She sat up, the sun was setting outside and it made her wonder how long she slept. Glancing at the clock she realized it was about six pm. Way too late to be sleeping. The girl got up and made her way to the bathroom, deciding to wash the dried tears away and to fix up her jumbled hair.

'I've never cried like that before…' she thought, staring at herself in the mirror, 'why does it affect me like this, nothing happened… it wasn't him. And that's all that matters… sure I bet he's angry with me right now. And God knows he has a reason to be, but why did I cry like that?' turning on the taps she cupped her hands under the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face. Looking up at the mirror she tried to put on a more presentable aura.

'There is no use whining about it now… I have to find the faggot who did do this, even if it's the last thing I do,' her eyes shifted from a gloomy look to a defiant, confident one. Closing the taps she grabbed the hand towel and dried her hands before exiting the room, heading to the living room.

She noticed that Hikaru and Takara were there. Lilly and Vega weren't. "Charly, how you feeling?" Takara asked. Charly grinned but shook her head.

"Peachy-kin, Where's Vega and Lilly?"

"Vega is at Bart's, he called an hour ago, said there was some parts she might wonna look at it. Lilly is in the kitchen, she volunteered to cook your favorite today, pasta and meatballs. Said something helping a friend in need. Thought you might use some 'comfort food'," Hikaru supplied.

"Dinner! Come and get it!" a call echoed from the kitchen. The three girls exchanged looks and raced to the kitchen, pasta and meatballs weren't only Charly's favorite, when Lilly cooked, she could put an expensive French restaurant to shame.

"So any news?" Charly asked as she at the table, reaching to the two large bowls on the table, one with fresh steaming pasta, the other with meatballs and sauce.

"Patterson called via the wireless an hour and a half ago, said you're on R & R for a week. He doesn't want you to do anything, said go to a spa and relax or something," Lilly spoke as she spooned herself some sauce over her pasta.

"More like he doesn't want my so called temper to act up. You know he thinks I'm a loose canon likely to go off any moment," Charly muttered, taking a taste of the pasta, "mmm… this is what I mean by comfort food, thanks Lilly," she added.

"I like to cook anyways. So it's nothing, really," Lilly replied looking down.

"I think he has a point Charly, he knows you will take it personally and spend more than one night with no sleep working on this case. But you got to remember; you're still human and need your sleep. So chill, and go to a spa or something, there's a good one downtown, the masseuse ladies there have golden hands," Hikaru supplemented, lowing her fork.

"Hmm… maybe I'll do that, but first, there is something else I have to do. I get the feeling that this imitator can imitate any of the boys, and I don't like that. If he does anything again while looking like Kai. Patterson will not buy my excuses, and I wont be able to help any of them," Charly paused to chew another mouthful while her eyes focused on the window, a look that signified that she was deep in thought. When she stared at nowhere like that, one might have thought she was a statue.

"Yes, that's a problem, they're wide open now," Takara put down her chop sticks, between her and Hikaru, only she would still prefer to eat things with chop sticks instead of a fork, the girl grew up using them, and old habits died hard.

"I'm think it's about time we formed that alliance, because the situation is getting too dangerous for all of us. And as a vote of trust, we have to tell them the truth. Patterson and protocol be damned, this is to their own good," Charly finally spoke. Her three friends looked at her strangely.

"Isn't that a little too drastic?" Lilly asked. Charly shook her head at that.

"How do you know we can trust them?" Hikaru asked.

Charly looked at her oddly, a look in her eyes that spoke, 'are you questioning me?' instead she calmed down, "I don't know if I can trust… them but I guess we're going to have to take a leap of faith, after all, one who doesn't gamble in this life, doesn't reap it's biggest rewards," she spoke. The three girls before her nodded their heads slowly but they were still weary of this decision. The rest of dinner was finished in silence, Charly stood up and grabbing her jacket off the coat rack in the hallway, checking her pocket for her car keys before walking to the garage. The girls only heard the engine go off, a second later screeching rubber and the car did an impression of a space shuttle as it blasted out.

"Why didn't you tell her about the data Tom gave us?" Takara asked, looking at Lilly.

"She would've done what Patterson warned us not to let her do, went out to hunt for this Doppelganger herself. She could've been hurt further, and blew her cover. As well as raised the alarm of the bastard, we have so little on him that if he flees now, we'll never get him. And I doubt this is his first job as a impersonator," Lilly replied.

"Where do you think she's off to in such a rush? Hikaru wondered.

"She's out to hunt a certain ghost, better her being with him. Than alone, that way this shady guy can't get him into more trouble, and Kai will keep her out of trouble. Whatever else they do is none of our business," Lilly replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Hikaru asked. Lilly just smiled but didn't say anything for a minute.

"Tom is not the only one who thinks those two have some issues to resolve," with that said the cheerful blonde got up from the table, collecting the dirty dishes. "Takara you wash, I dry," she suggested. Takara nodded and got up, turning on the water taps.

Charly meanwhile parked some distance away; pulling out her cell she recalled all recent calls, she saw the number she was looking for and accessed text messages. Quickly typing up a 'meet at the club in an hour, come alone, got to talk regarding business' satisfied she pressed Send. Putting the cell back in its cradle ahs drove off, heading to the club.

Vega meanwhile followed Tala to a small restaurant downtown. A quaint place busy with businessmen and their laptops, a kind of place what no one expected thugs to meet discussing business. She raised an eyebrow at his choice of a place and it rose even higher as he fed coins into the parking meters for both of them.

"Okay… I'm impressed you know a place like this," she spoke.

"You wanted quiet, this is quiet. No one here cares about who are, the businessmen are too busy with their laptops and cells," Tala replied. "The food is good okay, you want a pizza or some burgers?"

"What are you up to?" Vega asked.

"Nothing, I figure this will be good, might as well take things sitting down," he added. They stepped into the restaurant and chose a corner table, momentarily ignoring the menus lying on the table.

"So what do you want to know?" Vega asked.

"As I said, I only want to know who you work for. Because I am no longer buying that any of you five are on the wrong side of the law. You're too clean for it, you can earn that much respect as you have being clean," Tala replied.

Vega chuckled at that, "oh I'm not clean, and actually my reputation is earned the hard way. Lets just say there are three guys in the hood who had to get nose surgery after a brush in with my right fist," she smirked at him. A waitress appeared and they paused briefly to order some food. After the waitress left with their order Tala turned to the dark-haired woman sitting across from him, she was still smirking like a demon. He was beginning to feel the urge to wipe that smug smirk off her face.

"That still doesn't answer whom you work for," he responded.

"Ah yes… you don't give up do you?" she spoke with a widening smirk as she reached into her jacket again, pulling out a leather billfold before looking around; she opened it and raised it to his face. "Name's Vega McLeod, special undercover division, FBI" she spoke the words so smoothly that Tala almost swore he was hearing things, but there before his eyes was a badge and ID, on which plainly the three blue letters 'F.B.I' seemed to be glowing.

"Now everything makes sense," he spoke.

"Now I hope you realize this is sensitive info and if I find out you leaked it out for money. God have mercy on your soul I will have your ass in jail before you can even realize it," her voice took on a threatening edge to it.

"I'm not that low as to sell you five out. But one more question," Tala paused as she shoved the billfold back into her jacket and out of sight. "What are you doing in the hood?"

Vega chuckled at that, "We're on a sensitive case pup, cant tell you really. But let me tell you half the truth, we're on a case to bust the underground crime and drug ring that has been going on down there. And we have a reason to believe that the head of the organization is in L.A. as well as in San Francisco, but here, the organization seems to be a lot less tight knit," Vega explained.

"I see," Tala looked square in her eyes, a small smile on his features, "Thanks for trusting me. But I do know what you're talking about, I heard of that ring. Now I'm no officer, but I think this is more than just about drugs. There has been a bit too many shootings around the city to be just about the drugs, random gangs have been getting the bullets," Tala glanced out the window as the waitress reappeared with their food.

"And now these latest events with Fox and Ghost, I have a suspicion that whoever is behind these things. Sees you guys and us as a threat. I don't like that, and I think you see my point of view when I say this is not the time to act like enemies. I agree with Fox when she said that we need to form an alliance. You guys have minor charges, at least those I'm aware of so you guys could become potential FBI agents yourselves, that's how we got in, one robbery too many," Vega chuckled at that.

"I thought you only did one robbery that bank heist last year," Tala turned to the woman again, taking his burger off the tray and unwrapping it.

"That was the first, we heisted five more after that. On the last one the FBI busted us. And lets just say we got lucky, they managed to get the police off our butts in turn for some favors. At first we were informants, but then they realized that they needed people on the inside and we ended up as special agents. Fox is taking this mission personally. That and she has three of four years in the L.A police school, she dropped out because of a disciplinary issue," Vega explained, taking her own burger.

"I knew she acted a bit too much like a cop," Tala muttered between bites.

"Old habits die hard," Vega spoke with a shrug. The conversation died at that as the two ate in silence, all though their dinner Vega kept a keen eye on the red-haired thug. Watching his reactions, he seemed to be digesting everything but she could tell he was decent. But time would tell how things would unfold; right now she didn't want to rush into things.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this is 19. Tala now knows the truth. And what is on Charly's mind? Can the girls crack the latest developments? Only time and future chapters will tell!_


	20. The Assassination Attempt

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** Ace's plan to put Tom aside is in motion with unexpected results. And Charly is still warring with her feelings of guilt; can Kai help her get over them?

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**_Chapter #20:_**  _The Assassination Attempt_

Meanwhile L.A Penitentiary was silent as inmates prepared for their evening of doing as little as possible. Meanwhile outside three men clad in black were sneaking into the main building. The guards by the door were asleep on the job, making their job that much easier.

"So we only have one target? One asked. The other nodded slowly and raised a pair of binoculars to his face.

"Tom has spoken too much and the boss wants him done in. Keep it quiet guys, we don't want to be caught now," the third man spoke.

The three moved inside, moving towards their target.

Meanwhile Tom was in his cell, enjoying his evening of calm relaxation. "Jail isn't so bat," he said to himself. For him life in jail was that he would get his three daily meals, his phone call, and two hours of TV time. It wasn't a party, but it was manageable, and playing cards with his inmate buddies during the mid-day meal was also fun.

"Talking to yourself again?" A passing by guard asked.

"What else is there to do?" Tom wondered. The guard smirked and walked off. Tom slumped on his cell bench and laid back. Half an hour later he heard footsteps, expecting a guard he opened his eyes and was about to say hello when he saw his 'visitor' and that he was armed.

"Hello Tom," the figure spoke.

"Who the hell are you?" Tom asked, weary of the gun in the hands of the man.

"The boss sent me, you spoke too much," the figure replied, "Now you are going to be put away."

"How did you get here?" Tom asked.

"That doesn't matter," the man replied. Tom moved off his bunk to the back of his cell. The gun was still tainted at his face and Tom for not even one second mistook that as a threat. He knew that his life was at an end right now. "Any last requests?" the would be assassin asked.

Tom pressed himself further to the back of the cell, and just as he was about to admit the imminent, there was a thud and some groaning. Tom opened his eyes and saw that his would be assailant was struggling against a jail guard. The assailant's gun has cluttered into his cell and Tom had open access to it. Tom lunged foreword and grabbed the gun. The jail guard saw this; it was then the assailant gave the guard an upper cut, sending the unfortunate guard headfirst over the railing of the cellblock catwalk, three floors straight down.

The assailant turned back to Tom, and noticed his gun in the felon's hand. "That wasn't nice what you did to that guard," Tom spoke.

"Look who's talking! Or have you forgotten who you are? You're one of us. You betrayed your brothers, and now you die!" the assassin pulled out another gun, Tom saw this and as the man raised the gun, Tom raised the one in his hand. A single shot sounded as more Jail guards appeared.

"Bastard," the assailant coughed, spewing blood from his mouth, a second later he collapsed, a bullet wound right over his heart. Tom dropped the smoking gun in his hands as looked at the guards. They were shocked at what has transpired and Tom looked like he was in as much if not more shock as the guards.

Another guard ran up, "Sir we have the other two intruders in custody, and the guard below is alive, he has been taken to the infirmary."

"Good, take that gun from Tom, and be careful, he's still liable to be dangerous," a second guard spoke. Tom kicked the gun out of the cell instead of allowing the guard to step in.

"I'm not dangerous anymore. That assassin was right I did betray my brothers. But if my so-called brothers will go as far as to actually assassinate me for getting stuck in jail, I don't want brothers like that, its about time I went straight," with that said Tom moved back to his bunk and laid down, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. The guards walked off, leaving the felon to his thoughts.

Elsewhere, Charly was sitting in the club. Waiting, forty-five minutes passed since she sent the text message, she knew he would be early. He was the type to be early. So she waited, it wasn't time yet, and she was willing to wait a half an hour if he was late. Stirring her drink with her straw she focused her eyes on the dance floor.

"Hey foxy mama," a man spoke from behind. Charly looked up at him, her eyes instantly narrowed to slits and her hand stopped moving the straw.

"What do you want?" she almost hissed, after the events of the other night, she became more hostile towards strange men. Only Kai and his group were on her exception list, along with Bart, who proved himself to be a dependable person, even if he tended to run at the mouth a bit.

"You see I'm cruising around the club, and I see this cut chicka all on her own. So I figure I drop by and entertain, you know," the man replied.

"The only entertainment I need, and will have, is you in pain," Charly replied, the thug then looked down and saw the twin gun holsters on her, both had guns in them.

"Shit Lady, calm down," he replied.

"Go away," Charly closed her eyes and took a sip of her drink, the thug continued to hover over her.

"Who do you think you are?" he asked.

"You obviously don't know," Charly replied, "The name is Red Fox." The thug spluttered at that and edged back.

"No way you're that fox… you're too scrawny for it, and you're-" the thug didn't finish as she got up and grabbed him by the collar.

"I'm what? Too fragile looking for it?" she hissed. The thug nodded slowly, people were staring now, never before has anyways saw Red Fox snap so violently, and so quickly. Her fingers curled tighter around the thug's collar, now beginning to bite into his skin, cutting off his circulation.

"Hey leave him alone!" a woman ran up, wrapping her arm around the thugs forearm. Charly's eyes narrowed even more; people began to whisper around her but a second later she let go of the unfortunate thug. "What bit you tonight?" the woman continued.

"You sleaze bag of a boyfriend," Charly replied, grabbing her glass of coke she stalked off towards the bar, grumbling. The woman watched her go; no one dared follow Red Fox however. No one doubted that the guns on her hips were real.

Charly slumped in front of the bar, between a slim dark-skinned woman and the wall. It was the edge of the bar, also the darkest corner of it. The barkeep cast a glance at her but then approached, "Fox," he spoke. Charly looked up at the barkeep that flinched at her instantaneous glare, 'Man… something is seriously wrong with her tonight,' he thought. "Ghost has been looking for you about five minutes ago, he's somewhere around," he spoke. Charly nodded, the glare vanished, she looked behind her, scanning for any sign of the aforementioned thug. You'd think with his hair color, odd as it was, he would stick out. But the guy blended in like a commando unit in the jungle wearing camouflage uniforms. She spotted him, heading out the club. Tossing the barkeep a ten she raced outside. The barkeep watched and smiled and put the ten in the cash register.

She saw him approaching his car and raced after him at break neck speed, trying to avoid people as she went. Finally she caught up, out of breath and feeling a bit stupid, having been seen chasing after this cold thug, but she shrugged it off.

"Hey Ghost," she spoke.

"Charly," Kai replied, "I got your text message," he replied.

Charly smiled, "Thanks for coming, I have something important to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

"Not here, or not out in the open, people might hear, this is really important," Charly cast a glance around the club parking lot. Kai glanced at her oddly, wondering what was on her mind, but by the look in her eyes he could tell it was serious. He saw the fight if one could call it that that nearly happened inside. The girl looked like something was seriously bothering her, and he could safely bet that it was the recent events.

"Is there somewhere in particular you want to talk?" he asked a logical question the way Charly saw it.

"No preference, but quiet. I spent an agonizing hour in that club, either they're blasting music louder in there tonight, or the Advil I took earlier is wearing off," she smirked at that.

"I Know just the place, and don't worry… it's me this time, not some shady guy," Kai replied with a tone a joke in his voice.

Charly shook her head, she wound her arms around his and leaned close, "I know you're not some shady guy. He's part of what I want to talk to you about," Charly placed her head on his shoulder for a second, just as two women passed by, their jaws slack.

"I think we can talk inside my car, it should be sufficiently sound proof for that," Kai proposed, producing the keys. Charly nodded, he opened the driver side door, both locks opened and Charly opened the passenger side door, climbing inside. Shutting the door with a gentle thump.

"So what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"The truth Kai, the truth," Charly replied. Taking a deep breath she began to tell it all. "Now I want you to hear me out and not say anything until I'm done, alright. First, I want to say I'm not a hood person, not anymore anyways." The girl reached into her jacket; producing a familiar Billfold that Kai caught sight of before, at the time she spoke with the police after they escaped from the Black Diamonds. She opened it and allowed him to see what's inside, "I'm an FBI agent." When she spoke the words she swore she felt the air in the small compartment of the car freeze for a second. Slowly she looked up into his eyes, which were glued to the badge and ID. She didn't raise them so no one will see it from the car window. Now she closed the billfold and slipped it back into her jacket. It was then Kai snapped out.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because Kai, you are in danger. Patterson is my boss, and he's going to be pissed at me for this, but I don't care. You see if that shady fag that tried to do me in does anything as one of you again, my excuses wont cut it anymore. You will go in jail, you are wide open now, all of you. I cannot allow that to happen, I will not allow that to happen. Understand what I'm doing is the last case scenario," she was silenced when his hand brushed hers.

"Thanks," was the only word he said.

"One more thing Kai, I'm sorry for ever thinking he was you at the time. I really am, but you know…us FBI agents, we're logical people, we don't often listen to our gut feelings. We go by fact, and by god he looked a lot like you at the time. I'm sorry," she reached for the car door handle and pulled it open, pushing the door open with one fluid movement, not allowing him to say anything. But the telltale glistering in her eyes told him that the woman was close to tears for some strange reason. He watched her run to her car and get inside, a second later it drove off. Reaching over he yanked the open door she left shut and jammed his keys into the ignition, she was blaming herself for something, and he would not allow that. He remembered the words he told her at their drive from the police precinct and suddenly it made sense why she was in that much emotional pain. She thought he was angry with her, now more than ever.

**_Author Note:_**_ Heh! So what will happen next, can these two make up? And will some fluff follow? Stick around to find out!_


	21. Forbidden Acts

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_** The continuation of that evil cliffhanger from 20. K/C fans get out your reader-teeth-insurance, this chapter carries a mild FLUFF alert. Connor is conspiring again, and the noose is seemingly closing on him, or is it?

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**_Chapter #21:_**  _Forbidden Acts_

It was a chase worthy of the word chase, but he finally caught up with her when the Celica pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned beach. The woman gave him quite a thrill, at having been forced to drive at nearly eighty kilometers an hour on the near empty streets of the city, and being forced to run every red light they encountered.

He saw her get out and thread her way unto the sand, so he followed, the girl was in such a state he wouldn't put it past her to do something stupid, the thought of her trying to drown herself came to mind, and what alarmed him was that he couldn't write her off from doing that right now. She stopped on a particular spot some distance away, allowing him to catch up.

"I knew you would follow me," she began.

"Why did you come here?" Kai asked, a deserted beach with nice scenery, the sea wind was blowing in softly, raising mist from the waves on them.

"This is where it happened Kai, this very spot," she spoke. He didn't speak, because he didn't have to, he understood what she meant. He recognized the lifeguard shack standing about three hundred meters ahead from the photograph Patterson showed him. This was the same beach, the same spot, and he was standing practically where the guy who did this, once stood. The girl turned to face him; her eyes were misty with tears.

"Why did you come here? Most women don't want to visit the place of their assault for weeks, months, years even. Yet you, you come here practically on the next night, why?" Kai asked.

"I have to bury it, because it will not let me live. I have to put it behind me, I'm scared in a way, scared it will happen here again. And, to face this irrational fear, I had to come here, and I knew you would follow."

"That's stupid,"

"Well then I'm a stupid girl, I know I am," she replied. Kai grabbed her shoulders, causing her to flinch instantly.

"No you're not stupid, it's what you're doing that is stupid. There is no way you can bury this so soon, right now the only thing you are doing is reopening the wounds. Wounds that haven't had the time to heal yet."

"You don't understand, you couldn't understand how I feel," Charly protested, looking down at the sand at her feet. There was nothing more to say, she wasn't listening to him, and nothing he said got through.

'Actions speak louder than words,' the old line came to mind and Kai found it ironic how it seemed to be true, but he could do nothing, he didn't know what to do to erase the pain, to prove that he wasn't angry with her, to make her realize that he wasn't angry. She was like a total stranger to him at the moment, and it hurt to realize that she was shutting herself away from him.

"I understand how you feel, the pain may be dull and suppressed, but you feel guilt. You thought he was me, and you feel guilty of that, but you must realize, I don't blame you for that. Hell I don't blame you for hiding you're an FBI agent. It's protocol, I know it… Charly, don't do this to yourself, please… don't do this to _me_," the words slipped from his mouth before he could stop or restrain them. The girl looked up at that, her eyes were moist with tears. He realized she was crying all along.

"Kai," she whispered his name with such serenity, her hands rose to lie over his heart as his slipped from her shoulders down her arms and around her waist. He found himself pulling her close, seeking to comfort her. She was shorter than him, and he had to duck his head to meet eye to eye, but as she moved closer their noses brushed. "I'm sorry," she whispered, another crystalline tear slipping from under her eyelid as she closed her eyes.

"Don't be," he moved closer yet, winding his arms tighter, "Let me erase the pain, and replace the nightmare of him ever being here with this moment." Her hands gripped at his over shirt edges as their breath mingled, her eyes still closed. It was maddening proximity, with little to no separate room, whatever there was he destroyed in a second by brushing his lips against hers, a gentle feather caress, testing her response. She didn't move and he felt her hands tighten their grip, he captured her lips with his and kissed her. She kissed him back, slowly, the kiss didn't grow passionate, it remained light and barely a touch, but it was enough. Not ten seconds later he pulled back.

"Kai," she whispered his name again, her eyes opening slowly. The tears were gone now, replaced by a warm glow in her ember pools; that was enough for him to know that he took away the pain.

"Don't say anything, you need to rest. I will not tell the guys anyways tonight, we will talk some more tomorrow. Go home, and get some sleep, you will feel better," he spoke in a gentle yet authoritative tone.

"Thank you," she whispered, pulling out of his arms. Kai nodded and a small smile spread across his lips, the girl nodded and began to walk away, this time he did not follow. He didn't have to, he knew she would be all right.

Charly drove the streets for about and hour, her mind buzzing about what happened, particularly the kiss. She couldn't get the feeling of that moment out of her mind. The whole instance seemed out of place, out of time. But yet it also did it's trick, she was racked with guilt before, but now the only thing that bothered her were the butterflies fluttering mercilessly in her stomach.

A ring of a cell shattered the serenity, Charly picked it up, pressing the brake to drop some speed so she could talk.

"Fox speaking," the usual friendly greeting.

_'Charly, dude! Tom was right! Some maggot tried to assassinate him, we just got a message from Patterson. One jail guard is hurt, one of the three idiots who broke into the jail is dead. The idiot dropped one of his guns which clattered into Tom's cell, Tom shot him on self-defense; two guards saw it was self-defense. And dig this, Tom is asking to speak to you personally,'_ Vega didn't even bother with a greeting, never had. The butterflies were instantly gone, replaced by a cold mask of business on the woman's face.

"When?" Charly demanded.

_'Patterson said whenever it suits you, he gave you alone clearance to visit Tom any time you wish, and he also said that there has been recent developments in San Francisco that look alarming.'_ Vega continued.

"Good, good, I'll visit him tomorrow. Right now I am in no condition to go, I need my sleep, that and I'm on orders to get some sleep," she mumbled.

_'By whom?'_ Vega curiously asked.

"Dr. Kai," Charly replied sarcastically. She could almost hear the huge grin that was probably on Vega's face right about now.

_'Alright fine, Patterson isn't too pushy with the 'meet Tom' thing, and you're still on R and R 'leave', and I see you been using it. Now is there something I missed between you and a certain, tall, dark, and spooky?'_ Vega continued to prod.

"I should be asking if I missed something, the girls said you were at Bart's, and yet when I left you were still not back, what the hell happened?" Charly demanded, trying to get over her discomfort by getting off the subject.

_'Well… err I had an urgent meeting,'_ Vega replied, she was not a smooth liar, that was Charly's department, she could lie through her teeth and pull it off smoothly, but on the flip side, she could also tell when other people were trying to pull wool over her eyes.

"I'll let that lie slide this time Vega, I'm in much too good of a mood to fight with anyone, much less over the phone," with that said Charly hung up. In her rear view mirror she saw the GT was following about five hundred meters behind her. It was such a wide car that if any other car moved in front of it, it still stuck out on the sides. And the glow of its street-illegal neon lights gave it away even more.

Elsewhere, aboard the Oceanis, his private yacht, Connor Donovan was at unease. Something told him that something was wrong. Alice was sitting on a couch across the room, filing her long nails. Looking as if she didn't have a care in the world, which she probably didn't. There was a knock on the door as suddenly a blond man stepped in, his blue eyes opened as he bowed gently.

"Bad news Mr. Donovan," she spoke.

"What is it Terry?"

"Dominique, and Angelus were caught. Frankie is dead sir, Tom shot him," Terry reported.

"How did that happen? He's in jail, he should not have had a weapon," Connor glared at Terry murderously, forgetting about Alice's presence, who was looking at both of them wide-eyed and curious.

"Frankie tangled with a jail guard and dropped one of his guns, it just so happened it cluttered into Tom's cell, later when Frankie went to use the second one, he failed to notice that Tom had the first. Tom still has great marksmanship, single bullet, right in the heart," Terry explained.

"First doppelganger fails to do what he was sent, now this. I get the feeling my men are becoming helplessly incompetent Terry, I do not pay you to be incompetent,"

Terry shrank back in fright, when his boss was like that, it was a bad sign, and if anything it usually meant someone was going to get shot, personally, "Boss, Frankie is incompetent yes. But Tom poses no true threat to us, he knows little. It's Angelus and Dominique I'm worried about. They know too much, far more than Thomas. He is still in the dark about many things."

"He knows enough to give the cops too much information. He already gave them too much, he knows I'm in Los Angeles, he may not know who I am. But it is enough for the cops to localize their search here," Connor argued.

"Another infiltration will be expected, there is a huge risk in our operation being discovered. But there is one more thing Mr. Donovan, Dominique knows of our weapon storage and transport facility here in Los Angeles, moving it will not be possible. And if we lose so many arms to the cops, the damage will be severe," Terry voiced.

"Have the guard tightened there, they have the authorization to use whatever force necessary to prevent anyone from finding out the content of that warehouse, understood Terry?" Connor commanded.

"Perfectly Mr. Donovan, I shall depart now," Terry bowed and left. Connor then remembered Alice who was still in the room. Looking at him with wide eyes.

"Connor-dear, what is this about weapons?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing dear, nothing important. It doesn't matter; nothing will happen to that place, I can trust Terry on this one. He is the least likely of my men to botch it up, and with luck I can give the cops a message, I don't want them messing with my affairs. I already lost one weapon storage facility in San Francisco to them; I will not lose this one," Connor looked out the porthole. "Did I tell you how those blasted cops stole that last ammunition storage facility from me? I probably didn't, I had thirty guards there, and a lousy team of twelve S.W.A.T. operatives disposed of them in less than ten minutes. All of them Alice, immobilized, and taken in by some police scum, and the worst part of it all is that team, is hardly a regular team. Those cops knew how much ammo and weaponry was there, and how many explosives were there, they sent in their best. Well this time when their so called best show up, they will be disposed of." Connor continued.

Alice nodded a few times, he didn't see the movement, but the redhead nodded anyways. She got up, putting her nail file down, "Connor, don't worry. This warehouse will be safe," she spoke comfortingly, snaking her arms around his neck.

"You're probably right Alice, last time those guys took my men by surprise, this time I will have a small surprise of my own for them," Connor grinned, nuzzling Alice's neck, "they will regret ever messing in my affairs… oh yes they will."

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this is chapter 21. How come Connor is so sure that same SWAT team will go after his warehouse, and what is his surprise for them? Can our favorite intrepid hero and heroine finally face facts about their blooming feelings for each other? Stick around for the next exciting chapter of Dangerous Games!_


	22. Leads And Brashness

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 22. After last chapters fluff, it's time to get serious. Tom gives Charly some info that he didn't tell Leonard, and it makes her think of revenge!_

**__**

**_Chapter #22:_**  _Leads And Brashness_

The next Charly and Vega were bright an early at the penitentiary. It was an unusually frigid day for November. So the girls wore windbreakers, Vega decided not to take her bike and was driving Takara's borrowed Toyota Echo.

Vega kept an eye out on her friend, who seemed eerily silent. Usually she would grumble about killing someone or other for the sheer pleasure of it, but this time she was silent, and that wasn't natural.

"What happened last night, you came home floating on cloud nine," Vega asked. Charly turned her gaze out the window, when Vega spoke flashbacks of last night went off like fireworks in her mind, and she could feel a blush creeping on.

"Nothing," she replied, 'nothing except I got a kiss from the most gorgeous guy on this planet,' her mind added.

"I was going to tell you this last night. But I didn't want to blow your good mood out the window. Last night Wolf, the bastard that he is, made me tell him the truth. He knows we're FBI, he promised to keep his mouth shut, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's just like every other guy out there," Vega confessed. She counted to five mentally; expecting Charly to snap and start ranting but when she didn't Vega got worried.

"It's alright, last night… you know with that shady character imitating the boys, I told Kai to be careful and I told him the truth too, so I think he'll keep quiet. He was very understanding about it."

"We'll I'll be damned," Vega commented.

Charly only smirked, she didn't tell her friend everything, especially not about the fleeting romantic moment they shared, a moment she couldn't get out of her mind. She could still feel the warmth of his touch and the sensations his proximity stirred within her. 'Stop thinking about it! It was a one time fluke!' she ordered herself sternly.

"We're almost there," Vega warned. She didn't see her friend waging a war with herself, half of her wanted to banish all thoughts about the gorgeous devil that was Ghost, half of her kept coming up with progressively more 'interesting' scenarios. And the problem was, the latter half was working twice as fast as the former.

'Why can't I get him out of my head?' Charly thought in frustration.

"Charly?" Vega stopped for a red light.

"What?" Charly snapped.

"Sorry, you were really looking half asleep there."

"I should apologize for snapping. You know me, when I think too hard I become a hazard to myself.'

"We're almost there," Vega repeated.

"Thanks," Charly mumbled, with that said silence settled in the car again.

The Echo was parked in the regular parking lot of the penitentiary. The only cars that were there belonged to workers. But by the entrance stood a black Chevrolet that the girls recognized to belong to Leonard Patterson. Which meant that somewhere in that building, one of Tom's assassins was getting an earful from the FBI man. And with luck that soul would crack like an egg only to stop the flow of degrading insults that Patterson had no problem coming up with.

The two walked into the building. And walked towards security, to ease the guards minds that they weren't carrying any contraband material to the inmates. After five minutes, due to Vega's nice array of conveniently tucked away knives that were still detected by the metal detector and arguing with the guards that it was a tooth filling but still losing and having to leave all ten of them at the counter, the girls were allowed inside.

The two arrived at a conference room set aside for special things. Leonard Patterson was already there and spotted the two of them first.

"Sir," Vega spoke as soon as they were within earshot.

"Charlene, Vega," the man responded, "You will have to make this brief with Tom, we have more important people to interrogate. And I want to introduce you to some people who will probably help you. There were some developments in San Francisco over the last few days. We are closing in on the leader of this organization."

"Sounds like there will be some action in the next couple of days," Vega commented dryly.

"As if the last couple of days weren't enough," Charly added in a deadpan tone.

"We're gonna need a vacation after this," Vega continued.

"A nice… long vacation. You think the FBI budget can cover a round the world cruise?" Charly wondered. The glare the two earned from Patterson made both crack up hysterically.

"Alright enough clowning around you two," Leonard warned in an authoritative tone. Charly and Vega instantly stopped laughing at the older man lead them down the hallway to a cell. The door was opened by one of the jail guards.

Charly was the first to step in, Tom immediately looked up. He was sitting in his chair, slouching, his cuffed hands resting on the table before him. The smirk that appeared on his features the second he caught Charly's gaze made Charly want to hit him over the head with something heavy, and blunt.

"I'll be questioning our other guests," Patterson spoke, the two girls nodded and the older man left the room, the jailhouse guard closed the door behind them.

"Pleasure to see you two," Tom began as the two sat down.

"Can't say it's mutual," Vega replied.

"Ouch babe, go easy on my heart. You're breakin it!" Tom replied in a hurt tone.

"There is no time for pleasantries Tom, what did you want?" Charly began in a cold tone.

"Oh yea… yea, sorry," Tom paused, "Did you boss tell ya about what I told him?" Tom asked. Charly looked confused, by that he knew that she didn't know. So it was a good thing, because there was one thing he didn't tell the FBI man, he figured the woman deserved to get her vengeance first, if she wanted. "I know what happened, and listen I'm sorry. The guy who did this was my boss's special man. He goes by the name of Doppelganger, and he's an expert at disguising himself as people. Hell he could disguise himself as the president and no one would know the friggin difference until he declares war on some country no one ever heard of. You know," Tom paused again.

"You wanted to talk to me Tom, so talk, I don't have all day," Charly replied. Tom nodded shifting in his seat again, raising his hands to place them on the back of his head.

"Well I told Patterson ninety five percent of what I know. Which isn't much, I don't know how he looks, and we had a brief chat. But for all I know he's been wearing a disguise that time too. But I do know one thing; he has a favorite club on the Hollywood strip. The guy is such an ass, he's paid big bucks for what he does, and he goes spending a lot of it on that place. Schmoozin with the stars," Tom paused again, gauging the reaction the women before him had.

Vega glanced at Charly; she saw the eerily calm look in her eyes. Yet Vega could tell that there was anger bubbling below the surface of that look, a look akin to the weather just before a hurricane. And just like the oncoming hurricane, the storm unleashed itself suddenly, and devastatingly, "Where… is that club?" Charly demanded, her voice taking an icy tone to it.

"Don't do anything rash Charly," Vega warned, but she knew the warning was futile, her friend would seek out this Doppelganger, and there would be blood, and it wasn't going to be hers. Tom looked back and forth between the two women, he was regretting ever telling what he did.

Charly stood up suddenly and reached across the table, grabbing Tom by the collar of his jailhouse jumpers, "Tell me Tom… where is that club," she demanded. Tom only glared at her.

"It's right across from the Paramount studios," he replied. Charly let go of him, causing the felon to slump back in his seat; Vega shook her head at that. Charly was going to put herself, and possible innocents in danger, and Patterson was not going to like it one little bit. "Although I like it rough, I don't mean that rough," Tom added, adjusting the collar of his jumper with his bound hands. Charly glared and Vega rolled her eyes. Tom was still a flirt, even when he was in the lion's den with Charly. The way she was now, she was definitely like a hungry lion, and Vega for once thanked for the fact that they didn't have any form of weapons on them.

"You've been great help Tom, with the license plate trace going on, we'll know his real name soon enough, and then I'm going to have my revenge," Charly spoke, the look in her eyes shone murder.

"How come I feel like I just committed murder again?" Tom asked Vega.

"Don't worry, she wont kill him. Punch his lights out a couple of times over, yea… kill, that's not something she does," Vega replied.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Leonard Patterson was pacing the room, before him sat two chained felons. Angelus and Dominique, two of the three assassins sent after Tom. Light was shining in their faces like in an old-school investigation; even now the torture of bright light in your face was effective yet mostly harmless way of making someone speak, yet these two were stubborn like mules.

Suddenly the door opened, a uniformed FBI agent stepped in, "Sir we have some developments," he spoke. Patterson nodded, glancing at the two felons again; they continued to look cool as cucumbers. So he gave up on them for the time being and followed the FBI operative out of the room.

"We have found a large drugs and munitions storehouse within the limits of L.A, we believe it belongs to the same man who we've been hunting now. The data came in by courier an hour ago. Except not FedEx sir. By Elite SWAT unit. They came all the way from San Francisco, they handled the previous bust relating to the case, and it was the opinion of the higher FBI echelons to keep this case to them, and not let more people than necessary know about it," the operative spoke.

"And about that unit, who are they?" Leonard asked, he didn't want some rookies working on the case, he didn't need to worry about some rookies botching up and getting their heads blown off, it would not look good on the record.

"The unit consists of thirteen operatives. But only twelve of them are active SWAT operatives. They work in two teams of five, with the senior two operatives overseeing every mission. Their commander is no older than twenty, it has been noted on his record that he has displayed unusual capabilities, and displayed over and over his superiority over many other operatives that are older and far more experienced than him. The man is larger than life sir," the agent spoke.

"I want to meet with this operative," Leonard replied.

"Right sir, I foresaw that and extended the invitation already,"

"Good, I also want my agents to meet with them. I do not like strangers on my case, so I will need my agents to oversee their operations," Leonard stopped as they approached the room where he left Charly and Vega with Tom. Knocking on the door he opened it, Charly was pacing. But otherwise there was silence in the room. Tom looked uncomfortable, and Vega looked somewhat bored. "Come you two, we have business," Leonard spoke.

"Right sir," Charly replied.

"See ya, babes, drop by any time. It gets lonely here you know," Tom spoke. Vega and Charly flashed him a death-glare that could kill instantly. The two followed the older man out of the room.

"What's going on?" Vega asked.

"There has been a transfer of a group of SWAT operatives from San Francisco, they are familiar with the case we are working on. And the higher echelons of the FBI persuaded the police to assign them solely to this case until it is solved. As you know we are not dealing with a run off the mill gang," Patterson explained. The two women nodded. The other agent remained quiet. "I want you give to familiarize them with this front of the fight.

"Great, like we need some more rookies to boss around," Vega commented.

"They are hardly rookies Ma'am," the agent stepped in, "The commander of this unit is known on the force for his skill and valor, he is an excellent marksman or so it says on his file."

"So when do we get to meet this team?" Charly wondered. The group paused at security, allowing the girls to pick up their weapons. Patterson was surprised to realize just how many weapons they carried.

"I want to introduce you as soon as possible, but before that I want to know what is going on down there," the group continued to walk towards the exit from the prison.

"Well sir, to be honest, not so good. I am really worried that the same guy who attacked me the other night will commit another crime while looking like Kai. And there would be nothing that I would be able to do about it. I would not like innocents to fall in the loop hole of the law," Charly spoke.

"You have a point," Leonard paused, putting his hand on his chin as he walked, "There are very few options that are available to us at the moment. We cant give them protective police custody or surveillance because it would put our men in danger, and the police could potentially use the excuse to arrest them on their valid charges," Leonard theorized.

"It is my opinion sir, that they are no longer bystanders. Like it or not, they are involved now, they had a brush in with this case. I realize that it is our job to keep it under wraps, but I also know when keeping it under wraps is becoming too costly. Far too costly now," Vega began, "It is my expert opinion that they would make good liaisons for the duration of this investigation. If anything those six know what's going on, and how people like that operate better then us."

"I wish to have a talk with Kai then, I am willing to consider the possibility of bringing them into this investigation full time," Patterson spoke. Charly nodded and smiled, but in the back of her mind she knew, that was not going to be an easy conversation over dinner.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 22. Leonard Patterson has decided to make the boys FBI liaisons. But will the transition be smooth, and what sort of changes will it call for? Stick around to find out!_

**_Sneak Peak:_**_ Next chapter I will introduce three more show chars, take a wild guess who and what their role will be… Feel free to post your guess in a review!_


	23. Unexpected Turns

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ The long awaited chapter 23. The revelation of who will I drag in now is coming at the end of the chapter! Tala also tells the other guys what he really shouldn't have, and Charly recruits Kai's help with her plan to bust Doppelganger._

**__**

**_Chapter #23:_**  _Unexpected Turns_

Tala walked into the living room of their hideout. Tyson and Max were there playing cards; it was a past time.

"Where are Rei and Kenny?" Tala asked. Max looked up and shrugged.

"No clue, but somewhere around, both their cars are in the garage," Tyson replied.

"Did I hear someone say my name?" Rei asked as he walked in.

"Yea, I got something to tell you all," Tala replied.

"What, that you finally decided to be a sport and stop being so damn cold?" Tyson grumbled under his breath, the red-haired Russian however heard every word, but he chose to ignore it for the time being, but it didn't mean that he'd forget it.

"Well what do you have to say?" Rei asked.

"Fox's gang… I found something very interesting from Sting," Tala paused, folding his arms, "all of 'em have a badge and ID."

"They're cops?!" Max asked in surprise, dropping his hand of cards, Tyson grumbled but the collected the cards, there was something interesting happening right now, more interesting than his hopeless losing streak.

"Not cops… higher," Tala smirked at that, "FBI."

"I thought Vega would ask you to be quiet," a voice floated, everyone looked aside, Kai was standing, leaning against a wall, arms folded, seriously displeased look on his face.

"You don't seem too surprised Kai," Rei noted.

"I'm not, Charly told me the truth last night," Kai replied, pushing off the wall he approached his redheaded 'comrade', a glare on his features.

"What… you knew?" Tyson asked. Kai glanced at him and nodded.

"Now everything makes sense," Max added, "How come we weren't asked any questions after the incident with the Black Diamonds, and how come Kai was released so fast after that, well you know what…" Max stopped after he noticed that the aforementioned cold teen was glaring murder at him.

"Yea! Man… they have some power to play cops like cards," Tyson put in.

"And now what? We know their identities, that bears great responsibility," Rei glanced down at the floor and then looked up, "They must have been cornered pretty bad to reveal themselves to us."

"Charly seems to think we are in a vulnerable position. The man who posed himself as me, if he does that again, I will not be able to skirt by the law again.  That goes for all of you, the cops are not dumb, there are no three strikes anymore, only one," Kai concluded.

"I don't like this one little bit," Tala spat, "They could be playing us too. They're FBI, they don't give a shit about innocents."

"That's where you're wrong," Kenny's quiet voice floated over the momentary silence of the room, "I heard what you said, and you're wrong. No one wants to see innocents get hurt. Especially not the cops, or FBI, it does not look good on their record. Like it or not, the reason they told you anything, especially something this sensitive is because they want to protect you."

"Some way of protecting," Tyson grumbled.

"It is their last possibility. There is no way for us to ignore what has been going on in this neighborhood anymore. The recent sprees of murder, and drug trafficking rose, something is going on. And I have a feeling those FBI agents are trying to get to the bottom of it, and we've been ruled out from having any connection with what's going on. So now they are trying to keep those who are not involved from becoming involved, but we are now involved. Someone attacked Fox in hopes of getting her to put Kai aside; someone wants him out of the picture. That alone tells me that we are no longer just bystanders," Kenny explained.

"I know one thing, Charly wanted an alliance from day one. And I'm beginning to realize why, so unless there are any _valid_ objections," Kai paused to glare are Tala meaningfully, "I say we give it a shot."

"Hey I have nothing against that, maybe if we help the FBI, they can wipe our records off," Tyson commented.

"I don't care about the record," Kai replied, "I want to get to the bottom of this myself, no one messes with me and gets away with it."

"She has him whipped," Tala commented, everyone knew who the redhead meant. With that he walked off to his room deeper in the base.

"What bit him?" Tyson wondered.

"The same thing that bites him every time… pride," Max replied.

The next morning Charly drive her Celica up to the base belonging to the guys. She knew it was risky, suicidal even, but Leonard Patterson wanted to speak to Kai, and she had no other way of contacting him. Her text message would not adequately prepare him for the meeting. Getting out of her car she checked the presence of her weapons, for the last two days or so they have been fully loaded. Something told the girl to be ever weary.

Moving to the door she edged it open, and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the object of her search right there in the garage, working under the hood of his GT. A smirk crossed her features as she tiptoed closer.

"If this is another lame attempt to scare me Tyson, drop it, I can hear your foot steps," Kai grumbled. Charly only smirked wider.

"Do my foot steps really sound like his?" she asked. There was a thud coming as the thug straightened too fast, and hit his head on the lid of the hood.

"Shit…" he cursed.

"Oh sorry," Charly apologized with a chuckle. Kai peeked from behind the car's hood, the GT's engine was behind the driver and passenger seat, so when he did, he came face to face with the woman.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"Business I'm afraid, this isn't a social call," she replied, taking the rag Kai left on the car's roof and handing it to him.

"Well?"

"L.P. wants to speak to you. He called me today, you're to be drafted in the ranks, badge an all," Charly replied.

"And what makes him think I would agree to that?"

"Either that or protective custody. You decide what is worse, cops, or us girls," the woman replied.

"What about the others?"

"Drafted. I'm to bring you, and as Vega would call him, mutt-boy to L.P seeing as you two are the only ones who know the gig."

"Said Mutt-boy told the others," Kai replied in a cold tone.

"Shit," Charly cursed, "Alright… that's not a problem, they would have to know eventually. But it's a bit too early for my liking."

"So when are we to leave?" Kai asked.

"As soon as you and him decide to. There is someone else we want to introduce you to, seeing as you are going to be one of us. Might as well tell ya now. We've been on this case for a number of months now, and only now are things finally starting to clear. Tom was almost assassinated in jail, and he's eager to help. Also we are getting our own private SWAT team for more… intense operations. I am to meet their commander today, you can come too if you wish."

"Alright, your car or mine?" Kai asked.

"Mine, it's outside. Vega is already there with LP, waiting, and lets not keep her waiting too long okay? She gets edgy… oh and Casper, you might want to wash up a bit. You have oil on your right cheek," with that said she turned around and began to walk away, "Oh… one more thing. Tell mutt-boy to follow in his Nissan, also tell him not to pull anything funny. I know his license plate," with that said the woman vanished. Kai chuckled; only Charly and Vega could utter an utterly ridiculous nickname in a serious moment with a straight face.

"As I said, she has you whipped, but now she's trying to drag me down too,"

Kai turned his head, spotting Tala, standing by the door to the inside of the hide out, glaring.

"Give it a rest, she's doing this because she has no other option, it's not the FBI's style to create extensive operations. You know full well as I do that they don't like being over publicized, and they keep their operations as small as possible,"

"I don't give a damn, give me one good reason to do what she tells me," Tala replied.

"I don't have to give you any reasons Tala. She didn't tell you to do anything it's all purely voluntary. But I am telling you that you will go, and at least hear things out, then judge, got it?" the tone Kai used signified that he was not kidding around. With that he brushed past the Russian on his way inside.

'Someone will pay, and pay dearly,' Tala thought, 'I liked my life simple, I do not need some women messing it up.' Despite himself he had to admit that there was a point in hearing things out, only to see if the FBI were truly dumb, or just pretending, he was betting on the former.

Twenty minutes later they were on their way. The Celica was leading with the Nissan following behind. "There is one more thing Kai," Charly began. "Tom knows the guy who frame you. His name is Doppelganger, he gave me a place where he usually hangs out, and it's on the Hollywood strip. I was wondering if you were up to some payback."

"What are you planning?"

"A little disguise act of my own, but you're going to have to trust me on this. I'll lure him so you can get your own share of the fun, but you must not be seen, if that fag sees you, he'll know we're on to him. And if he flies the coop, he's gone, we have little to nothing on him," Charly explained.

"I understand."

"This will be fun," Charly began gleefully.

"Just don't get carried away, he's still dangerous," Kai commented.

"You sound like Vega," Charly replied, "Always spoiling my fun, but you're right…"

"And she isn't?" Kai wondered.

"She's right too, but I wouldn't admit it to her," the woman replied. Kai smirked at that.

"And what makes me special?"

'Many things…' Charly thought to herself, "You on an ego trip wont look like aliens abducted the real you," she replied casually.

The group arrived at the FBI headquarters downtown. And Charly lead the two men to Leonard's office. Vega was by the office door.

"Here I thought you'd have trouble," she commented.

"Where's L.P?" Charly wondered.

"In there," Vega motioned to the office.

"Did you see anyone strange?" Charly asked next.

Vega shook her head and then glanced at Tala, who only now did she notice, was glaring murder at the door like it could do him any good, "What's with him?" she asked.

"No clue," the other woman replied. The office door opened and Leonard Patterson stepped out.

"Sir," the girls greeted in unison.

"Good you brought them," Leonard spoke, eyeing the youth he didn't see before, the redhead who he could only assume was the man Vega spoke of earlier. "Follow me, the Swat is team is downstairs, they don't yet have clearance to come up here," Leonard continued, leading the group. The guys followed quietly. Tala had a bored expression on his features; his hands were in the pockets of his jacket. Kai had pretty much the same expression; his hands were in the pockets of his jeans, thumbs out over the pocket edges.

The group descended to the lobby. All around it was devoid of any life, except the security guards at their stations, the occasional passing agent, and three figures sitting in the waiting area. As soon as they spotted Leonard all three got up.

The leader of the three was of six foot tall, built; he wore black Nike shoes, black jeans, and a snug black turtleneck with a stylish black zip-up rainproof vest, it was no zipped up, showing a vest-like holster of a gun under it. His hair a shade of lavender, and his eyes a piercing steel gray. He was perhaps the most serious of the three.

To his left was the tallest of the three, about six foot three, blond with blue eyes. He wore khaki pants with a green sweater, brown steel toe boots. But uniquely to him was a silver chain on which hung a small silver cross.

And by him stood the shortest of the tree, at five foot three, he had deep blue hair and brown eyes. Clad in a gray thermal sweater, green jeans, and black boots.

"What the hell are you three doing here?" Tala asked as soon as he spotted them.

"Tala! One face we didn't expect to see," the shortest one piped up.

"You know each other?" Leonard asked.

"These are my old high school friends," Tala replied.

"We heard there was a rabid animal stalking the ghetto of L.A. should've known it was you," the shortest one added.

"Aren't rabies only confined to warm blooded animals?" Vega wondered. This earned her a grin from the shortest of the tree. "Wolf, aren't you going to introduce us to your three friends?" she added, ignoring his glare completely at being called a cold-blooded animal no less.

"Bryan, Spencer, and the short pest is Ian," Tala muttered. Spencer nodded his head as his name was said. Bryan turned to Leonard but before he could say anything Vega cut in.

"Wait a minute… we're supposed to meet some elite SWAT unit here, as much as I like to have a reason to tease the wolf-pup, we have no time for that," Vega spoke in a confused tone.

"We're them," Ian replied, all three produced SWAT ID cards.

"Where are the others?" Leonard asked.

"I gave them the day off, I will brief them tomorrow on the information we receive today," Bryan spoke coolly.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Yep! The rest of the D-Boys are the 'Elite' SWAT talk was happening of. I just couldn't help but bring them in…_


	24. Surprises and Discoveries

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ This is sort of a continuation of 23. I had to cut it because I like to keep my chapters under 2500 words. Sorry guys! I know you probably hate it, but it makes it easier on me. Because I don't often have enough motivation/patience to write something longer. Only when I get really flamed up about things do chapters turn longer._

**__**

**_Chapter #24:_**  _Surprises and Discoveries_

"Man Tala, not in a million years did we expect you to be an undercover fed!" Ian continued.

"He's not," Charly stepped in, "He's going to one though," she added.

"There will be time for pleasantries later," Leonard reprimanded, Charly shook her head, "I would like to introduce you to Charlene Deamen, and Vega McLeod, two senior-most of my undercover agents," the older man continued. The three SWAT agents nodded. "Today went kind of bad and as much as I would love to personally brief you three on the events of this case, I have other more pressing matters, Vega, I want you to show them the neighborhood, give them a bit of a cover-up. I will need to authorize them access to the restricted parts of this building, including the basement armory, Charlene, Kai, I wish to have a word with you two in private now if possible," with that the older man turned to the elevators, Charly followed.

Vega shrugged and turned back to the tree agents, "Alrighty then, lets go… I can only assume you have your own car, I drive a bike," she spoke.

"We got a van," Bryan commented coldly.

"Good, let's go," she lead the three to the underground parking lots, via a stair case, Tala was following behind, looking utterly displeased, he had a feeling that Ian was going to humiliate him tonight, and he wanted to be there to wring his neck when he does.

Kai followed Charly and Leonard quietly, his hands dug in the pockets of his jeans, agents watched him oddly, but he didn't pay attention to it. The two paused by the elevator as Leonard pressed the call button.

"What is it you want to talk to us?" Kai asked.

"Well… to be frank. I like to keep my agents together in one place where I can keep them safe," Leonard began.

"Understandable," Kai put in.

"Seeing as your group will be joining my people, I was thinking," Leonard paused again as the elevator arrived. The three got inside and Charly pressed the button to go up. The doors began to close.

"There is an old Fed Ex shipment warehouse not far from where your bases are currently located. It has long been converted to a homeless shelter, but now it was abandoned due to rising crime levels the homeless brought along. Now it's big enough for both your groups, and it is already wired with a security system. No one will look for you there," Leonard explained, the door of the elevator opened and the three exited the cab, walking across the hall, to Leonard's office. Agents watched the young man they didn't see before.

"Sir with all due respect, sharing a base like this is not something that often happens down there. It would imply a gang merge, and that will not happen," Charly spoke.

"A merger like this is highly rare, if not impossible down there. It would draw too much attention and cause too much speculation. It would be the last thing we'd want to do," Kai added. Leonard paused, but then ushered them into the office, closing the door behind them. He moved to his desk and sat down in his chair.

"Have a seat," he motioned to the chairs across from him. Charly sat down, Kai remained standing, and he moved to stand behind her. "It makes sense to me Hiwatari, I know the mechanics of that neighborhood, but everything has a loop hole in it, and so does this situation." Leonard argued.

"It does, but only in our particular situation, luckily," Kai placed his hands on the back of the chair in which Charly sat. He looked down at her but then looked back up.

"I'm listening," Leonard placed his hands on the table before him and leaned foreword.

"The Black-Diamonds were the king pins of the neighborhood before we took them out. So it would only seem logical and completely possible that the two gangs who managed to take them out, would unite to take their place," Kai's explanation was simple and straight to the point. At that Charly looked up.

"So let me get this straight, you're okay with this merge?" she asked in surprise.

"I'm okay with it, but the others might not be, so it's not a sure bet. I know for a fact Tala will be venomously against it."

"There is one more thing," Leonard spoke up, "If a merge happens, there is the matter of command. I do not want you two to decide who is senior among you. Kai you hold the respect of your group, but Charlene has hers, and she is the senior-most agent I have on this case, I want you two to work together. So if you have any differences, it would be for the best to settle them now, while things are still undecided."

"Understood sir, but... but that should not be a problem," Charly spoke.

"Good, is there anything else?" Leonard asked.

"Where is that warehouse exactly, I want to go there to check it out," Kai wondered. Leonard leaned back in his chair and looked at the man squarely in the eyes, the older man could tell that Kai was not trusting of the FBI, he would have to be a fool not to realize that, but he decided to humor the youth. After all it was this distrusting that made him and his group the ideal agents for this case, it was the same distrust the girls had in the first place. He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the address, putting it on the edge of the table for the younger man to take.

"Rest assured the place is secure. I foresaw this possibility and have already sent there some people to scope it out, the place is indeed deserted and should be ready for you to move in within the week. We are finishing on installation of some basic necessities," Leonard explained. Kai wearily grabbed the slip of paper and pushed it into the back pocket of his jeans. "Unless there is something more, you two are dismissed.

Charly rose from her seat and moved to exit the room, Kai followed, she could feel that he was watching her for any sign of something he didn't like. She could bet that he was looking for any sign of deception.

"Tell me, would you really go through with this merger?" she asked as they arrived by the elevator again.

"If that's what you think would be best," Kai spoke. But something in his tone seemed off, Charly swore something in his tone seemed off.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Nothing much… except that this is a bit too, how to put it, convenient," Kai began, "You had this in mind all along, didn't you? Making us FBI agents, tell me."

"What… no! Honestly Kai," Charly was surprised by that.

"Don't give me that 'I'm innocent' crap Charly. I know you better than that; you had this whole thing planned out, you tried to get in on my good side, well… you succeeded." He spoke, 'a little better than I might have liked, but it doesn't change the fact,' he thought to himself. Charly was looking at him quite oddly.

"You're worried about loosing authority, aren't you?" she asked before she could stop herself. With a ding the elevator arrived, Charly stepped inside, expecting him to follow.

"I don't see why I have to worry, because there will not be a merger. I may have said one thing in there, but I'm not too fond of the idea myself," with that said he turned away and walked to the stairs just as the elevator doors closed before Charly could say anything more.

Charly stared at the closed elevator doors as the cabin descended down the shaft, she was surprised by how good a liar Kai was. He just pulled off the one thing she could never do, fool Leonard Patterson while lying through his teeth. The elevator stopped and the doors opened to the lobby, the woman stepped out but didn't move far, she leaned against the small section of wall separating the elevator shafts from the stair case, closing her eyes briefly she sighed. She glanced at the elevator indicators; one cab was in the lobby, standing still. The other was going up, the third was somewhere on the last floor, it was delivery day so the mail was probably being delivered into the mail room, with an office building this large, that elevator was on service.

Her thoughts drifted back to Kai. He seemed to have distanced himself the second Leonard Patterson mentioned one thing about a merger, 'what are you thinking Kai?' she wondered, but on some distant plane, she did not want to know what was going on in his head. He was completely confusing at times. She remembered last night him being almost romantic, and now he was cold again. He confused her beyond anything else, but at the same time, the great big unknown that he was, captivated her. He was intelligent, prideful, and observant, some people saw him being cold, but it was clear he had emotion under that tough shell. But his best traits did not end at personality alone, he was attractive, charming in a way, she would have to be blind not to see how attractive he was.

The door of the staircase opened and Kai appeared. Charly smirked.

"About damn time Casper, though I thought it might take you less time to realize I'm the one with a car here," she spoke. He turned, noticing that the woman was smiling smugly, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why are you still here?" Kai asked, as if it was not blatantly obvious already.

"Oh lil' ol' me? Well I'm waiting for this cute guy who has been a bit rude to me, but forgot that I'm the only one who knows where to drop him off, and who wouldn't also raise anyone's suspicions by doing so."

"Listen Charly… I'm sorry about that. But you're wrong about one thing; you being there would raise suspicion. God knows people in the hood whisper already," Kai replied, "I don't want anymore rumors circulating around. People keep saying that we have a hidden relationship going on away from prying eyes… and I don't like –"

"I see how it is, now everything makes sense," Charly cut in before he could finish what he was saying, she did not need to hear the rest of it to know where this as going.

"… What?" Kai asked.

"So that's what been on your mind huh Kai? Rumors? You're willing to put yourself, and the others in mortal danger by opposing to this alliance only because you don't want some civilians whispering behind your back? How much more selfish do you get?!" Charly's voice rose with every word she said, and every one of them stabbed at Kai. "It's you who are mistaken Kai. Rumors are nothing! They can be easily quieted down, but if one of you gets your head blown off by a slug. That's something that we can't quiet down Kai. If one of you is killed, it's on my responsibility, it means I didn't watch out for you enough I don't want that Kai. I don't want to see any of you get hurt!" Charly paused at that, "Think about it," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a quarter. "And when you figure out what's right, call me, I'm going for some KFC, I'll be waiting for a call to pick you up," with that said she grabbed his hand, pressed the quarter into his palm, curled his fingers around it and walked off, leaving him just standing there.

A second later he snapped out of his reverie and chased after her, growling. He knew she was right on some degree, he was being too prideful to see her point of view, and he was actually glad that she snapped at him like that. He found her just as she was about to drive; a hand placed on the hood of her Celica effectively stopped her from flooring the accelerator. Walking over he pulled the door open and got in.

"Well that was quick," she spoke in a dead tone, turning to face him. When he looked back the woman froze, he turned partially.

"You were right," he spoke calmly. "I want to see this base for myself before I decide however." Charly smiled brilliantly at him. She turned back to the front and drove off.

"I'm glad we came to an agreement Kai," she mumbled.

'So am I,' Kai thought to himself, but said nothing.

Elsewhere, Terry walked the dimly lit hallways of a huge warehouse. Crates, huge in size, were stacked everywhere, full of ammunition and explosives, as well as guns and other illegal belongings.

Guards patrolled the floor; each one had a Kalashnikov **(*)** and a bandoleer of ammo. Armed to the teeth, each one also had a knife or two, just like Connor ordered. Terry put his hands on the railing of the catwalk on which he was on, looking down.

"Sir?" a man approached, shifting his rifle behind his back on its leather strap.

"Yes?" Terry asked in a bored tone. He really didn't want to be here, but orders were orders.

"The base is secure, everyone is armed and ready for an assault, I took the liberty of giving each a gas mask in case they decide to use knock out gas to make the job easier," the man reported.

"Alright," Terry paused, looking down again. "I want a group of ten awake at all times, I don't want them taking this place by surprise."

"That wont happen sir, they are good if the kingpin ordered this many guards, but they are not this good."

"I was there in San Francisco when we lost that facility, trust me Laurence, they are that good, one might have thought they were not human to have aim that sharp," Terry argued, the man, Laurence, nodded slowly and moved to walk away. Terry watched his men closely, in the back of his head something told him that even fifty guards wasn't going to be enough. He had a feeling that this was going to end up badly.

**_Author Notes:_**_ In the next couple of chapters intend to give a bit more screen time to the rest of the D-Boys because I think you guys are going to like how I adapted them into the fic._

**_Special:_**_ The reason I went with the Kalashnikov is because it is a typical Gangster weapon. It's very powerful on full automatic rapid-fire. But not very accurate sadly, but it's also VERY low maintenance compared to high tech rifles, and it's very cheap to own. And it practically never jams unlike some high tech weapons. If it does jams, it's usually one misaligned part, which can easily be snapped back in place without any special tools in thirty seconds or less._


	25. The Rules Of The Hood

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 25. Sarcasm and humor ahead. Ian is bent on humiliating Tala for old time sakes, but its too bad that Tala has some dirt of his own on his shorter friend. Vega throws in her own two cents, and all around things are barely on track._

**__**

**_Chapter #25:_**  _The Rules Of The Hood_

Vega led the group down to the club. After getting inside and taking some seats she smirked at the attention the SWAT guys were quickly drawing. Women were already gossiping, especially since the anti-social 'wolf' was with them.

"Welcome to the club boys, this is where everything happens," Vega began.

"Quite the crowd," Ian remarked.

"Today is a slow day, usually the dance floor is busier," Vega replied off-handedly.

"Leonard spoke that you and Charlene are the two senior-most of his agents, where are the others?" Bryan wondered. Vega smirked, she saw that coming, the man before here was quite readable, if one looked closely enough and didn't flinch from the permanent cold look in his steel gray eyes.

"Ah… I have to say two things to that; first the others are home. You'll meet them in a while, I want Charly to return first, and she's better answering questions than I am. Better Takara, Lilly, and Hikaru badgering her, and not me. Second, don't ever call Charly by her full first name, she doesn't like it, I never figured out why," Vega replied, crossing her arms.

"She strikes me as a serious type of person," Spencer commented.

"She is, she only goofs off on free time. If you get the chance to work with her solo, you'll find out that she takes her job seriously," Vega didn't say anymore.

"If this is going to turn all FBI business, I'm leaving," Tala mumbled. At that Vega glared at him.

"Pipe down will ya? I don't want the whole frikin world to find out," she hissed.

"Ouch… harsh," Ian said with a smirk.

"Stuff it half-pint, I'm not in the mood," Tala grumbled, causing Ian to burst out laughing, which in turn served only to further anger Tala.

"Feel free to leave _Wolf_," Vega said with a chesher cat smirk on her face, a smirk that she only had when she was planning something, "But I reserve the right to make your life a living hell after that, and trust me… that is well within my capacity."

"Don't overestimate yourself _Sting_, or underestimate me!" Tala replied, stressing her nickname, a death-glare match ensued. That caused Ian to smile widely, Spencer grinned and Bryan pretended to be looking elsewhere, he had a feeling working with this woman was indeed going to be hell. If she was capable of irking Tala that easily, but still tip-toeing on the line of where the thug snapped and went violent.

Two women passed by holding drinks, both winked flirtatiously at Bryan causing him to roll his eyes, "This is why I hate clubs," he spoke. That served the death-glare match between Tala and Vega to end abruptly.

"Say what?" Vega wondered. Bryan quirked an eyebrow at that and Vega grinned. "Alright, alright, I guess I should teach you guys the three golden rules of the hood," Vega volunteered, crossing her hands before her on the table.

"This will be good," Tala mumbled sarcastically, earning himself a side glare from Vega.

"Let her talk Tala, we were assigned to blend in here, so any info would be good," Spencer added, Tala leaned back in his seat.

"Alright, carry on."

"Thank you your _majesty_," Vega replied sarcastically, she mumbled something under her breath that sounded like 'jerk' to the three operatives before her, but a second later her disposition brightened somewhat, "Alright… rule number one, and it's number one for a reason. Here, flirting with women can land you in a lot of hot water with their gangster boyfriends, women tend to forget that they already have a thug if someone cute enough comes along,"

"Yea, that's an important rule," Tala grumbled sarcastically, causing Vega to glare at him again.

"What bit you tonight?" she wondered.

"Leave me alone woman, I'm not in the mood," he replied gruffly.

"He didn't change," Ian mumbled to Spencer who nodded, Vega's ears caught it.

"He was that way in high school too?" she asked.

"Oh yea, he's a real funny-man, his sarcasm and less than sunny disposition landed him in almost more detention than picking fights with every other guy who dared cross his path landed him in suspension," Ian explained, purposely not looking at Tala, who was seething now. "He's got the name 'wolf' there, has been acting like one, a rabid one."

"At least I wasn't such a big wimp that a cheerleader could beat me up," Tala replied coldly, meaningfully.

"Hey! There were ten of them! And one of me!" Ian protested in self-defense.

"They were still cheer-leaders Ian," Vega noted, she was having trouble keeping her face straight and not laughing at these two.

"The other two rules," Bryan stepped in, he knew where things were going, and as much as he wanted to see the amusing developments go on developing, he knew that blood shed would follow, and he didn't want to be trapped in the middle of that.

"Oh right… rule number two… keep it low. You don't want to mess with some of the gangs here. They all have alliances and enemies. If you ally with one, you're bound to make a couple enemies. So it's best to stay neutral," Vega spoke.

"What about you five?" Spencer wondered. Vega glanced at him and shook her head.

"We're neutral, the only alliance, if you can call it that, that we have is with his buddies," she replied, pointing at Tala with her thumb. "And besides, women are kind of exempted from that rule. Gangsters have that male ego; they don't think a woman could outdo them. I don't know if it's the ego talking, or the testosterone," Vega added with a shrug. "And finally rule number three, don't pick fights of the fisticuffs kind. Unless you happen to be carrying some knife, gun, taser, other sharp object. None of these thugs fight fairly, and if you were planning of just punching him around. It may end up with a stab wound for you, and some have no reservation about hitting the kill zone," Vega completed.

"Harsh," Ian commented.

"That's the ghetto boys. Here no one cares about the law, that's why real cops have such trouble doing undercover work here, they cannot bend protocol like we girls do," Vega replied with a smirk. "Now c'mon, let's go, you have to meet the others," Vega got up, the three SWAT operatives followed. And so did Tala, if somewhat reluctantly, he was partially glad for the air of business that there was, it meant Ian couldn't run at the mouth and make a public laughing stock of him, even if it meant he couldn't have the fun of wringing his neck afterwards.

Vega lead them to their base, she decided to take the scenic route because a convoy of three cars was pretty much conspicuous in these parts of town, so a trip that usually took five minutes, took fifteen. When they finally arrived, she allowed the operatives to park their large black Van inside their garage, although the van bore no identification marks like most SWAT vans, it was still stranger than most vans by the fact that it had three antennas on it's roof.

"Well this is it," Vega spoke as she pulled off her helmet, watching the others. The sound of engines drew the other three occupants of the room.

"Hey Vega, who are the new guys?" Takara wondered.

"Our own private heavy artillery squad," Vega replied. "And would you believe what a tiny world this is? They also happen to be Wolf's old high school buddies!"

"Whoa… that's freaky," Hikaru commented.

"No kidding," Lilly added.

"Anyways, welcome guys!" Takara chimed. Tala snorted at the ever-cheerful girl.

"Hey," Ian responded, "Pleasure being here, now is that pizza I smell?"

"Ian," Bryan spoke warningly.

"What? I'm a growing boy!" Ian replied. The four girls grinned at that, how out of place that comment seemed to be coming from Ian.

"Ian, your have stopped 'growing' in grade nine," Tala commented dryly. That made the four girls burst out laughing.

"It's okay, we have two large pizzas, and we'll be glad to share. Just a fair warning, they have green peppers and extra tomato sauce. We like our pizzas extra hot," Hikaru warned.

"They are still not as hot as the Texas ones, trust me, I know," Lilly added. The four men followed them inside and soon everyone was seated around the kitchen table.

"I believe we weren't really introduced," Bryan began, he was hesitant about the pizza, have never been too fond of spicy food.

"Name's Takara, that's Hikaru, and that Lilly, and you already know Vega, Charly is not here at the moment," Takara began. The lavender-haired man nodded and glanced at his comrades.

"You already know Ian, the pest that he is," Tala commented dryly.

"I resent that!" Ian piped up.

"Drop it you two," Bryan interjected.

"Yea Tala, leave Ian alone," Spencer agreed as he reached into the pizza carton and grabbed a slice that no one particularly wanted seeing as it had extra green peppers.

"The others are Bryan and Spencer," Tala continued, ignoring his two friends. Spencer grinned for a second at the mention of his name before resuming eating.

"I take it Vega put you through her boot camp, congratulations for surviving. Last time the agent fled from her and needed counseling," Takara spoke calmly.

"He was a perv!" Vega glared at Takara murderously.

"Yea and you nearly bashed his head in," Takara added. The three SWAT agents were watching them oddly.

"I don't know who's worse then. Vega, or Tala," Ian commented quietly to his two friends. Tala heard every single word and vowed revenge right then and there. After he got away from the FBI agents that could, and probably would jail him for what he was going to do to Ian. The rest of the evening was spent talking business and devouring the pizzas that the girls ordered.

Charly and Kai meanwhile pulled in front of the old FedEx warehouse. To anyone it looked like an old dilapidated warehouse, the front was blackened with age. Covered in graffiti, which really wasn't half bad. The washed glass windows were the only telltale signs that the building saw some activity recently. On the side of it were the shipping/loading bays, six of them in total. Three were sealed off by brickwork, leaving only three open. The loading platform was receiving concrete ramps, showing that the shipping area was being converted into a garage.

"Not too bad," Kai commented.

"Could be worse," Charly agreed.

"You have the key?"

"Err… sadly no, I'm curious too Kai," Charly replied. She drove towards the shipping bay and parked in front of one of the three ramps. Turning off the engine they got out. Kai proceeded with an examination of the building from outside. Charly followed behind him carefully, she was dying of curiosity to see how the building was on the inside. Then she noticed something, on the wall by the front door was a small keypad.

"We'll I'll be damned, Kai come see this," she called him over. Kai turned and walked to over where she was inspecting the keypad.

"Electronic locks, a vulnerability," he spoke.

"Notice the key locks on this door Sherlock, it's a combination keyless lock. You don't have to have a key to open this door, if you know the correct number. And if I know Patterson like I think I know him, it'll be longer than eight digits," Charly folded her arms, "But the question it, what could it be,"

"It could be anything, there are hundreds of thousands of possibilities, I don't want to see the inside this badly as to spend hours busting our heads over this,"

"Put your nitros on cool Kai, let me try something," with that Charly's fingers began to fly over the keypad. There was a series of beeps as she finished inputting the twelve-digit pass code. Then a series of clicks followed as six deadbolt locks disengaged.

"Okay what did you type in?" Kai demanded.

"My FBI ID number," Charly replied, "Patterson would want to make it a bit easy on us, but still make it safe," she argued. "Coming?" she reached for the door and opened it. Kai shrugged and followed her inside. The door locked behind them as soon as it was closed. The place was not lit, and there was a putrid stench of paint in the air, fresh drying paint. Charly tried to locate the light switch, but she didn't see one.

"Got a convenient flashlight too?" Kai asked.

"Nope, sorry," Charly shook her head, a gesture he missed in the dark.

"And here I thought you'd make like Batgirl and have it all," Kai commented. He missed the glare the woman gave him too, and that was probably a good thing.

"There has to be a light switch here somewhere," Charly felt around the wall, but it was smooth drywall, a bit sticky from fresh paint, but smooth. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark but before she could locate the light switch, the light went on.

"Found it," Kai remarked.

"Ack!" Charly's hands flew to her eyes, "What you trying to do man? Blind me? Warn me next time you find a light switch," she was rubbing at her eyes, trying to get the white spots to stop from dancing behind her eyelids.

"Sorry," Kai apologized, but she could still hear the note of amusement in his voice. Slowly her eyes stopped stinging and she could open them, the lights were on the ceiling, they were industrial strength florescent lights, no wonder the first shock felt like getting flashed by a camera in a white room. The walls were also white, so that bounced the light back and forth like mirrors.

"Note to self, file a hazard notice with Patterson, those lights are far too bright to be comfortable," Charly grumbled.

"It's a warehouse,"

"So?" Charly asked.

"It's a warehouse," Kai repeated, "It's not supposed to be for human residence. And look over there, those lights are coming down."

"Alright, you wanted to explore, let's go explore," Charly didn't like admitting her fault to anyone, without a good reason, so she was going to do her damned best not to let him see that she was just being too stubborn for her own good.

**Author Notes:** This chapter was laden with sarcasm, humor, and some good ol' Tala/Vega mush of the 'I Hate You' kind. I hope you liked it.


	26. The Queen Of Diamonds

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Long awaited Chappy 26. If you thought the Ace of Hearts was bad, wait till you meet his sister! A bit on no-contact semi-mush. And whatnot. read on and enjoy!_

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**_Chapter #26:_**_ The Queen Of Diamonds_

The space they were in was a long hall. Drywall was put up in place of the previously empty warehouse space, forming rooms. The hall was dotted with doors. There was a hum coming from somewhere to the left, by the frequency of both could tell it was a refrigerator.

So Charly and Kai moved to the first door on their right, it was going to be a living room, the space was large, and right by the wall was a half finished brick fireplace with a glass spark-shield.

"Cozy," Charly remarked, eyeing the fireplace. Kai glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Sentimental?"

"Sometimes," the woman replied quietly. He smirked, quenching down a sudden urge to put his arm around her waist, knowing that if the lighting incident didn't bother her for too long, this would. "Stupid huh?" she asked.

"Whatever works for you Charly," Kai moved back and walked on deeper into the base, he was staring ahead, but not really seeing what was there. His mind was elsewhere. The prospect of this base had its ups and downs. The ups were definitely security, he could tell just by looking that the place was tightly guarded. And the numeric key lock was another measure of security. The downs were obvious too, the FBI cover, and the fact that they were becoming liaisons. And then there was the biggest one of them all, the presence of those five agents, mainly Charly.

Kai paused, when he thought about that woman, she was like a complete mystery to him. Normally he could read most women easily by their behavior. But Charly baffled him, she was fun loving one moment, all business next, and then she would show a sensitive, easily hurt side on the third. He seen all three sides of her, but he could tell there was a fourth side, a side hidden behind all that. Hidden behind her somewhat split personality. That was the only way to describe how she could go from being relaxed, to completely serious and back, in less than two seconds.

"I take it you like this place?" her voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"What. yea,"

"Did I interrupt anything?" Charly asked. He still had his back turned to her, but when he did turn to face her, she found his eyes staring at her in an odd way. 'Dejavu' she thought.

"Nothing really," Kai brushed past her, on his way back towards the door, "Lets go, I'm okay with this place." Suddenly an urgency to get away from the woman filled him. But when he remembered that he didn't have his GT it became almost the feeling akin to the feeling a claustrophobic got when stuck in an elevator, too much to handle.

"Kai," he froze at that. Now the feeling of almost panic was replaced with a feeling of dejavu, the way she said his name. They way she always said his name. "What's wrong," he heard her nearly silent footsteps approach him. And a second later her hand was on his shoulder.

"Nothing is wrong," he bit out coldly, right now he wanted nothing more than just to get away from her.

"Alright," Charly glanced around again, "Lets go," the two walked back towards door almost silently. As they exited, the door locked itself behind them and the proceeded to their car.

Meanwhile at the docks, The Oceanis was docked; its cargo hold was open, exposing a large space like those ferries had, designed for cars. In the hold already Ace's Red Ferrari was parked. Connor and Alice walked down the gangplank of the ship and unto the wooden dock.

"Connor dear, why did we dock?" Alice asked.

"Don't worry your pretty head over it Alice, it's nothing too bad. My sister is coming from San Francisco," Connor explained.

"You mean Sarah?" Alice asked in a surprised tone. Connor nodded, he was eager to see his sister, even if it meant tolerating her flashy personality and flirty behavior. But between the two of them, she was the one who could do the most damage unsuspected.

"She should be here any second now, and you will hear her coming." As if on cue there was a rumble of an engine as a black car turned unto the dock. It was a Ferrari 360 Spider, hood up. It was black in color, but in its black paint was something that looked like glitter, causing the car to shine.

Alice stared as the car pulled up close; with screeching wheels it turned, exposing the driver side. No sooner that it was completely still that the engine went dead and the door opened. A woman stepped out; she was tall, five foot eight or so with waist length brown hair. And bright blue eyes. She was clad in black high-heeled pumps and a black tight miniskirt, a pink glittery tube top and on top that mini leather jacket, also in black. The jacket barely reached her waist. On her hands she had black leather driving gloves and around her neck was a diamond solitaire necklace set in platinum.

"Sarah," Connor commented, not sounding too pleased to see her.

"I missed you little brother," the woman replied, drawing closer to hug him. "I see you still keep Alice around. I would've though you would've grown bored of her by now, now where is that darling Terry?" Sarah went from one thing to another with unbelievable speed.

"Terry is on assignment, I'll have Marco park your car next to mine, and Marco knows if he dents, scratches, or even leaves a finger prints on it, he's dead."

"Good, good," Sarah saw the aforementioned man approach, she gave him the keys and followed her brother up the gangplank, completely ignoring Alice who was still following Connor as if she wasn't just blatantly insulted by his older sister. "So what have you been up to little brother?" Sarah wondered.

"Oh the usual, I'm almost in control of this city, but there is one little thing standing in my way. Five FBI agents, but they are not a problem, just a nuisance," Connor explained.

"And you can't kill them? I'm surprised," Sarah paused.

"It's not that simple, they aren't just any FBI agents, they are former criminals themselves, and they are smart. And the worst part is that they're all women," Connor hated to admitting to having been bested by women, but he knew that if he didn't admit it, Sarah wouldn't stop bugging him. It was that way since childhood, Sarah had to know everything that went on in her little brother's life.

"Do you need my help with something?" Sarah wondered. At that Connor stopped walking and looked at his sister, a smirk spread on his features.

"Alice, leave us," he spoke. Alice nodded and nearly scampered off silently. "Sarah, I don't want you to do anything that might put you in danger. Doppelganger was unable to do anything with them, and now I heard that they are on his tail. And they took down Thomas, now he's their very obedient lap dog. I hate to admit it, but those five have more brain between them than half of my men," Connor lead his sis to his office. The click of her heels on the deck of the yacht being the only sound that was heard the whole walk.

"And you aren't going to bail Rodney? He's a good man, a bit egoistic, but he's loyal," Sarah asked.

"No, Doppelganger has become too much of a liability," Connor replied.

"This is not good at all little brother, our operations in San Francisco are still to recover from the loss of that central transfer point. I am beginning to think that the FBI is slowly closing its noose around our necks," Sarah paused in her step as the two approached Connor's office. Connor opened the door and ushered her inside, moving to sit behind his desk.

"That's not all Sarah, I received a notice today. The same SWAT team that was responsible for the loss of that transfer point have just arrived in L.A. and the only thing stopping them from taking down my transfer point here is the fact that they don't know where it is. But Doppelganger knows, hell he knows far too much the bloody bastard. And there is no way in hell that I can assassinate him once he's caught. I tried to put Tom aside, three of my best assassins were removed, one dead, and two in jail. They won't risk loosing Doppelganger. He'll be put in a blast-proof room with no window and a six inch thick door if that means keeping my men away from him," Connor explained.

"Then I'm afraid there is only one thing to do little brother, dispose of him while he's still on the run. And I know how to do just that," Sarah smiled slightly. Connor was weary of that smile, because he knew whenever Sarah smiled like that, trouble was going to go down, "and I can handle that SWAT team too. I brought some of my men from S.F; they should be able to take care of that little nuisance," Sarah shifted in her seat, crossing her long legs.

"Are you saying my men are incompetent sister dearest?" Connor wondered, eyes narrowing glaringly.

"I guess that's what I'm saying little brother. You were never the smart one when it came to dealing with delicate matters. This is one of those times where a woman's touch is needed," Sarah replied.

"One day Sarah, you will get yourself killed doing the things you do," Connor got up from his seat and walked over to a filing cabinet and opened the topmost drawer. Pulling out a thick folder he laid it on the table. "Here is all the info I have on those women, it's best you brush up. And whatever you do, don't underestimate the woman named 'Red Fox'," with that said he walked out of his office, it was bad enough Sarah was involved, it was worse that she was once again right. Doppelganger was more than a liability; he was a hazard, and that would have to be removed.

The next day at the FBI headquarters, Leonard Patterson was in his office, working when there was a rap on the door. The man looked up and signed, placing down the papers in his hands, "Come in."

The door opened and a young agent peeked in somewhat shyly, "Sir, we have the data you want," he stepped in and put down a small manila folder on the table before his senior officer.

"Dismissed," Leonard replied, taking the folded. The agent scampered off and closed the door as he left. Leonard opened the folder; in it was a map of a region of L.A, blown up to focus solely on a five-kilometer radius. On it in red marker was highlighted a large building, under the map were surveillance photographs showing the location in great detail.

Leonard laid the photos out in front of him and proceeded to examine each one in detail, taking notes on the things in the photographs. There was another, more quiet rap on the door as the man looked up, sighing.

"What now?" he spoke gruffly. The door opened and Bryan stepped in, completely unaffected by the man's cold tone.

"You wished to talk sir?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, I have the files on your next mission," Patterson motioned to the papers before him. "Sit down, there is something in this report I want you to take particular note of. I know your group comes up with your own attack plans. But I want you to know what that warehouse isn't just drugs and firearms. There are rumors of explosives there like C4, C12, and other high explosives. One stray bullet can set that place off like one giant firecracker." Leonard organized the papers back into their folder and looked up at the young agent. Expecting something cocky to come from him, normally agents of his age and lack of practical experience were overconfident in themselves. But what he saw in the man surprised him, total focus and emotional control.

"Understood sir, there wont be any casualties," Bryan spoke.

"Better not, this situation is getting out of hand already. I do not the CIA to think the FBI is incompetent. I don't want CIA agents crawling everywhere," Leonard spoke. Bryan collected the folder and was ready to leave when the man stopped him. "One more thing, this is about my agents. I want you to work with Takara; she might be able to help you with identifying explosives inside the base, if there are any. But be aware that Charlene and Vega will be there to supervise and provide me with a detailed report," Leonard added. Bryan glanced at him and nodded, as much as he hated the idea of an outsider on his squad, Takara could help if she was indeed an expert with explosives.

"Understood sir, this warehouse will be gone in two nights," the lavender-haired youth assured. With that said he stepped out of the office. Leonard watched him go, shaking his head. It was hard to believe that a man, barely a year out of SWAT training was so experienced in his own right. From the sniper rifle, to smaller firearms, knives, and three forms of martial arts, Kung Fu, Karate, and Tae-Kwon-Do. Patterson had a feeling the true power of these agents was going to show on this very mission.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Sorry about the slow update. I kinda got stuck in the middle here. The next two chapters will be the long awaited mission._


	27. Mission Impossible Part 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ The long awaited 'Mission' multipart. I know the chapter title is not the world's most original title. But it's homage to one of my favorite movies. So bear with me, it kind of fits._

**__**

**_Chapter #27:_** _Mission Impossible [Part 1]_

It was evening the next day when two black vans pulled up some distance away from a large warehouse. One van was plain black van, while the other black van was marked with large white letters, S.W.A.T. After those vans were three civilian cars, one was a black Chevrolet Avalanche; the other was a black Toyota Echo Hatchback, and the last one was a red Toyota Celica GTS.

The back doors of the marked van opened and ten agents filed out, each one was dressed in black cargo pants and shirt, with bulletproof vests and helmets. Over the bulletproof vest all of them had a slimmer vest that was all pockets of different sizes and shapes. Most had a gun or two on them the others also had knives. Three had sniper rifles, and one of them had a shotgun. Most housed their weapons on harness holsters; the harnesses resembled those rock-climbers used. If one didn't know any better, one might have thought that they were a commando unit and not a S.W.A.T unit.

Charly, Vega, and Lilly appeared from Charly's Celica while Takara and Hikaru appeared from Takara's Toyota echo hatchback. The guys appeared from Kenny's Chevy avalanche. Kenny moved to the back of the Chevy and opened the cargo, firing up his laptop, which was lying in a special harness on the flatbed of his SUV.

It was then the unmarked van opened up and Tala's friends appeared. Bryan was dressed more commando-like than any of his agents. He had full bulletproof gear, two long daggers strapped to his shins over his cargo pants. Behind his back was a high-powered optical aim sniper rifle and in the pockets of his vest were clips of ammo, six in total. Each one housing twenty shots. A pair of silver dog tags on a bead chain rested over his bulletproof vest, one could just make out the engraved identity numbers on them. He had his helmet under his arm.

Spencer had a similar outfit, but he had two automatic guns and one dagger. His silver cross was tucked under the bulletproof vest he wore. He had his helmet on, but it was not buckled shut.

Ian was not dressed in bulletproof gear like the others, but like all of them he had a headset over his ear.

"I see you three are ready to go," Vega commented.

"They're ready, I'm just a tech junkie," Ian replied.

"He's too short to be a real SWAT agent," Tala commented gruffly. This earned him a glare from Ian.

"Alright you two drop the height jokes. We are here on a mission," Charly stepped in.

"This is the place right?" Tyson asked, diverting the attention from the situation that was threatening to play out.

"Yep, this is the place alright," Ian climbed back into the van and next jumped out with a camera. "I need to gather some preliminary data before we go in. This infra red camera is sensitive enough to accomplish the job." Ian pulled out a cable from the van, plugged the cable into the camera, and turned it on, pointing it at the warehouse.

"Is there a possibility for you to hook up your systems to my laptop? I want to gather some data myself. I'm thinking if I collect enough I can come up with some sort of profile on this boss. Sort of like a psychological profile FBI do on serial killers," Kenny spoke. Everyone looked oddly at him.

"That's a good idea actually," Bryan spoke.

"Sure I can do that, just park your car with it's back facing here so I can connect your laptop," Ian spoke. Kenny nodded and moved to the driver side of his Chevy. The other allowed him the movement.

"I have a feeling this will be difficult," Kai spoke as he watched the building; he wore his own bulletproof vest for safety sakes. And made no attempt to hide his own gun from view, it was tucked in the waistband of his jeans at his side.

"They can handle it Kai, I heard many good things about them, besides… Bryan looks like he knows what he's doing," Charly replied.

"For once I agree with Fox," Tala stepped in, causing everyone to look at him. "If Bryan is as good with a real gun as he was with a gun on those first person shooters he played in high school like an addict, those chumps don't stand a ghost of a chance."

"I wouldn't get overconfident now, there are at least fifty of them in there," Ian jumped in, everyone gathered around Kenny's laptop, which was now hooked up. It displayed a colorful thermal image of the place. Since it was evening, and cool, even for L.A. the image was very clear. Most of the base was in shades of green and blue, showing that it was air-conditioned. But there were patches of red, orange, and yellow. Outlines of trucks, still warm from making deliveries. And people moving around.

"Here, there's a blind spot. No one is here," Kenny motioned to the far eastern part of the warehouse, which was farthest away from them.

"There is only one door to there, it's the oldest Anti-SWAT trick in the book," Spencer cut in; with his height he could see clearly over all of their heads.

"They will leave the most easily protected point of entry seemingly exposed, and then they will ambush us once we take the bait," Bryan finished.

"You suppose they are that smart?" Takara wondered, looking up at the lavender-haired SWAT commander.

"I don't suppose they are that smart," he repeated, word for word, giving the woman a stern look, "I know that the plan."

"So what's the problem?" Tala folded his arms, "Just bust in there, and shoot them all dead or otherwise, and that's that." The look Charly and Vega gave him was one of shock at the preposterous and high-casualty plan.

"Video games are one thing, this is real life, a whole other thing. I have the lives of ten agents on my hands. And I have a no-casualty policy among my men. Each and every one of them has a family that expects me to keep them safe. That's the problem!" Bryan spoke in a cold tone. Although his features remained stoic, you could see it in his eyes that like all great leaders, he was concerned for the well being of the men who were under his control.

"There must be a way to get in there with little risk of injury and no casualties," Lilly spoke, she remained quiet before, watching the place with a feeling of trepidation in the pit of her stomach, for some reason she couldn't get the feeling of foreboding doom and dejavu to leave her. 'This is just like that night… this is too much just like that night…' she thought.

"There is, the only logical way. The way they don't expect SWAT to take," Kai began. "They expect the SWAT to take in a cautious route, and spring in this trap. But what if they go from here," he pointed to the west side, where the heat signatures were most focused. "I think we should borrow a trick from the Black-Diamond book, I can assume you guys have knock out gas grenades," he looked up at Bryan who grinned, catching unto his plan.

"Hey! That's a plan! Gas 'em!" Hikaru caught on, "They have vents just like our base has, and if we drop the grenades there, the air conditioning should do the rest for us."

"Exactly," Kai spoke. Ian meanwhile put the camera on the Chevy's roof, still turned on the base as he jumped back into their van, he came out a minute later holding ten gas grenades.

"These should give us some time to take control of the place, we're going to have…" before he could finish gunfire suddenly erupted from the warehouse. Everyone ducked for cover, Charly instantly going for her twin guns. The SWAT agents pulled out their guns and rifles.

"What the hell, they're on to us," Bryan hissed. "Ian call for cop backup, I want three or four confinement vans here stat. Tell 'em to bring down ten cruisers too, in case some start to flee, we need a chase team. And tell 'em to bring the high-speed cruisers, none of those slow street cruisers. Discretion just flew out the window,"

"Gotcha boss," Ian dived into the van and pulled out a radio.

"I can aid the chase team," Charly added to Bryan, "My Celica can pump some serious speed."

Men appeared from the large warehouse, forcing the groups to remain hidden behind the line or cars. "This is not good damn it," Tyson piped up, having been previously lost between all the cop and FBI lingo.

"If they keep us pressed here, we wont be able to do anything," Max added.

"That's why we should fire back," Lilly countered, she had her own precious rifle with her.

"Don't," Spencer put a hand on the barrel of the rifle, causing Lilly to lower it. "They wont come too close, I think this is just the pin team, we still have time until they mount the assault. Backup will arrive before that. If I know Ian, he'll make the situation sound a lot worse than it is. And this place will be crawling with cops in a matter of minutes."

There was another gun rap, made by a machine gun; the sound of bullets hitting metal with a dull rapid 'thuck, thuck, thuck' was heard. Bryan leveled his rifle over the hook of the Chevy and flicked open the optical aim. With a single shot, the gunner with the machine gun who fired on them was disarmed, the machine gun lay on the ground, damaged, useless, and the gunner was clutching his wrist.

"I am getting seriously annoyed at this," Tala grumbled. 

"If those bastards put even one bullet in my Celica, they are so dead," Charly added angrily.

Sirens suddenly began to blare as police cruisers appeared from around the bend, high-speed sport cruisers. Followed by four detainment vans, large vans that could each fit about ten people in the back.

"The cavalry is here," Tyson announced. Everyone smirked at the old saying; it seemed to fit too well at the moment. The gunners that had them pinned noticed the coming cruisers and withdrew to their warehouse fortress.

Inside Terry heard the gunshots and the commotion, the sirens that followed. And the sense of urgency that filled the warehouse was palpable. People all around him had their guns ready, safety disconnected, bullets ready to kill and wound.

A man ran up to him, "Sir! There are SWAT agents outside. Cops are crawling outside too, a lot of them," the man sounded panicked and Terry knew right there and then, that this was the final showdown.

"Alright I want everyone on the ready, this could be a plan to spread confusion among us. I will not allow that to happen, we are still in control here," he spoke. The men around him nodded a few times before returning to their posts. Terry meanwhile drew his own rifle, he knew the enemy was there, but they didn't know he was here, and they didn't know that he was lethal. Taking the ladder up to the catwalk he approached the windows, the sight that he was surprised him, the place was crawling with armed cops.

He could see the SWAT agents; they stood apart from the crowd of cops in their black and blue uniforms. Among the SWAT agents he can see his target. Clearly the ringleader of the pack as he was ordering the agents around with a combination of signals and voice. Raising his sniper rifle he opened the window slowly, as to not jar or show any sign of his presence before it was too late. Leveling the rifle he looked down the optical aim system with a smirk. One finger moved the selector switch from safe to semi-automatic. The first bullet slid into its position in the barrel with a dull click. "With this one shot, I will put an end to the menace. Boss will be proud," Terry's smirk widened into a malicious grin as his finger tightened on the trigger. "Goodbye," at that the quiet of the tense atmosphere was pierced with a single shot.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Don't pummel me with half rotten veggies plz! I know you hate cliffhangers but I couldn't help myself. Also on a further note, I'd like to mention that my spelling IS far from perfect. But English is my fourth language, and I have only learned it five years ago. So it's kind of difficult. And half the errors I do have are those that spell checkers don't fix. And I can't ask my beta to proof everything because I write rather quickly, and she had schoolwork too._


	28. Mission Impossible Part 2

**_Disclaimer:_**_I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_Part two of chapter 27. I know you guys have been dying for it. So I tried to rush it._

**__**

**_Chapter #28:_**_Mission Impossible [Part 2]_

_---Last Time On Dangerous Games---_

One finger moved the selector switch from safe to semi-automatic. The first bullet slid into its position in the barrel with a dull click. "With this one shot, I will put an end to the menace. Boss will be proud," Terry's smirk widened into a malicious grin as his finger tightened on the trigger. "Goodbye," at that the quiet of the tense atmosphere was pierced with a single shot…

_---And Now, the conclusion---_

Outside, the gunshot was nearly silent. But it was still heard by those who knew how to listen. The group ducked and suddenly the wall behind them cracked. A Bullet was now imbedded in it. Bryan looked up; the bullet was right at level where his head was a second before. Had he not ducked on impulse at sounds of sudden gunshots, he would've been dead. Without saying a word he put his helmet on and buckled it.

"That was close," Tyson spoke.

"Get the gas grenades ready, we're going on by force," the tone of voice Bryan used showed that he was far from placid, it bristled with suppressed anger, "Ian pin point where the hell that sniper is, and relay that data when you have it. Andrew, Ben, James, cover fire. Everyone else prepare for a fight, this place will not go down easy, I just know it," with that he got up. The agents followed him in a dash across the street. The cops were on alert for a sniper, and things looked like they turned for the worse.

One agent pulled out a plastic explosive device as they approached the main door, sticking it on the door, he pressed a button and everyone backed up. A second later the device exploded, not powerfully, but still powerfully enough to blow the door clean off it's hinges. The agents flooded inside, taking the crooks by surprise, but not for long as a second later the guards opened fire.

"Scatter!" Spencer commanded as all the agents took cover behind different crates. However they did not fire, the three agents Bryan ordered to give cover fire rejoined the fray. One of them pulled out a gas grenade and pulled the pin out with his teeth before rising to chuck it.

In the wildfire that was happening the guards didn't notice the grenade before it exploded, releasing its drowsing gas. As the vapors spread the SWAT agents pulled on gas masks, not the full gas mask, but just the type that would filter the air they breather free of the gas.

'I have the sniper, he's up on the catwalks,' Ian broadcasted over the headset communicators. Bryan glanced and Spencer.

"Take them and make sure to get everyone in this base, I have a bone to pick with that sniper," he spoke. Spencer nodded hesitantly. Before he could object Bryan moved off, pulling out a semi-automatic gun and removing the safety on it. He found the catwalk ladder and began to climb on it.

Cops appeared wearing gas masks, before the downed guards could awake, they were cuffed and dragged out by the cops, Spencer and the rest of the SWAT moved on deeper into the base. The far doors lead them to an oddly empty hallway and it was totally silent. At the far end of it was another set of doors, and on the sides of it were a few more doors, undoubtedly connected to different storage areas.

Bryan meanwhile climbed unto the catwalks, he didn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity of the ladder, and that was not a comforting thought. The place was not lit very well, so if the sniper wore black he could elude him well enough. The only thing that Bryan had going for him was the fact that he also wore black. Gun at a ready he proceeded to walk down the catwalk, ever careful not to make a sound that could give him away.

Terry watched him from his position, when he saw the agent coming up he clambered up a support beam, and unto the beams supporting the roof. He was now sitting on, feet dangling over the edge, smirking like a devil. For all the agent knew, he could shoot him dead now, and he wouldn't know what hit him. Smirking he jumped down, causing the catwalk to rattle and the agent to turn around sharply.

"I must commend you for making it this far," Terry smirked, "But you won't be leaving this place alive." The look Bryan gave him was one of total boredom, like he heard all those threats before, which Terry realized, he probably had. In the moment of his distraction he didn't see the man move.

Terry doubled over; searing hot pain erupted in his gut where Bryan's fist connected with it. "Scum," he wheezed out. Bryan used that moment to kick him behind the knees, sending the man sprawling on his stomach on the catwalk floor. Bryan put his knee on the man's lower back, painfully, and pulled his arms back, reaching for a pair of handcuffs. After chaining the felon he grabbed him by the chain joining the cuffs and hoisted him up.

"You chose the wrong SWAT unit to mess with," Bryan hissed at him, pushing towards the catwalk ladder.

Spencer inspected the hallway, no sign of any traps. But his experience told him to expect it when it was least expected. They walked a few steps ahead before Spencer suddenly raised his hand, commanding the company to stop. The other agents were very, clutching their weapons closely. The hallway was empty, but the fact that they were given a halt order made many thinking they were missing something. But all of them trusted the judgment of their two leaders. No one was ever hurt doing these things yet with them in command.

"Sir?" One agent inquired.

Spencer ignored him and put a hand to the communicator over his ear, "Ian, give me a scan of the rooms to our sides. I do not like this silence," he spoke quietly. There was a series of clicks and static, but otherwise no reply. The line seemed dead, "Come on short stuff… bad time to take a lunch break," Spencer almost grumbled, the dead com link did not ease his worry, and it seemed to amplify the unease of the agents behind him, who clutched their weapons in white-knuckle grips.

As the deathly silence in the hallways continued, the air only grew tenser. It was broken by a faint creak and clicks. That was all preludes to the hailstorm of bullets that followed. The agents ran back and hid behind door jambs, where there was no chance of them taking hits, even with bullet proof gear, taking Kalashnikov full-auto fire from about ten crooks was not something the vests were designed for.

Without command one agent pulled out a knock out gas grenade and yanked the pin, before chucking it down the hallway. The charge blew and began to fill the hallway with gas. Soon there were thuds and sounds of metal and wood hitting concrete. The crooks began to succumb to the gas one by one.

A sense of relief washed over the group as some agents proceeded to cuff the felons. In the white mist of the hallway caused by the knockout gas none of them saw the smoke that began to billow from under the door at the far end of the hallway. None of them could smell it either with their gas masks.

'Guys!' the comlink suddenly sprang to life, surprising Spencer, 'Sorry about going dead, there was a problem with the antennae, a bullet damaged it,' Ian explained. 'Spencer, there is a massive heat buildup down the hall from you, and I don't like it, check it out.' Ian continued.

"Will do short stuff," Spencer replied, putting a hand over the device over his ear to activate the microphone. "Carlos, Josh, Alex, check it out, and be careful," he ordered. Cops appeared then in gas masks, to haul the out cold felons away. The place was just about clear of criminals.

Meanwhile, Bryan led the oddly co-operative Terry outside. Two of the four confinement trucks were gone. Two more arrived to take their place. Bryan shoved Terry towards one of the cruisers, not noticing that the felon was pulling out a lock pick from his sleeve.

"We're about done here," The lavender-haired commander spoke to the group watching, "Spencer is in there wrapping things up." Everyone turned to the felon he was leading by the shoulder.

"The sniper?" Takara asked, Bryan nodded. Lilly looked up at the man and he looked back, focusing a cold glare at the woman. Lilly gasped suddenly, everyone heard her. The next words she uttered blew the group away.

"Terry!" She called, "Big brother! You're alive!" All eyes instantly turned on her in shock. Terry used that moment to burst free of his cuffs, shoving his trusty lock pick back in his sleeve, a second later he reached into the pouch of his hoodie and pulled out a gun.

"You're crazy girl!" he spoke, grabbing Lilly, putting the gun to her head. "Now nobody moves, or the girl gets it," he spoke to the others.

"Let her go," Charly commanded, stepping foreword. She didn't know why Lilly thought this man was her brother; she didn't even know Lilly had a brother. But he sure didn't act like a brother.

Terry pulled Lilly back towards a cruiser that had an open door and an idle engine, "Now listen babe, when I let go, you're going to stand right here by the door until I drive off. And no one will hurt." He whispered in her ear. Lilly nodded in shock, tears were brimming in her eyes.

"Why are you doing this Terry?" she asked.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but I don't have a sister, you're nuts girl," he replied. The arm he had around his neck began to ease off. And the police raised their guns, ready to shoot the man dead as soon as Lilly moved out of the way. Lilly gulped and as soon as his arm was off her throat she bolted back to the group.

"Ah shit! Bitch!" Terry raised his gun, and fired twice. Before the bullets hit however Bryan moved between them, and Lilly, grabbing her by the shoulders. The impact of two bullets on the back of his vest was akin to getting hit by softballs going at a hundred miles per hour. The bullets didn't go through the vest, but they still hurt like hell.

The cops opened fire as soon as Lilly was away and Terry meanwhile jumped into the high-speed cruiser by which he stood and slammed the door. Before he could drive off, a bullet shattered the driver-side window of the car, and the car sped off, wheels screeching.

"Damn it! He's not getting away!" Charly ran back to her Celica, the engine was on in a nanosecond, and the car literarily blasted off, wheels screeching, a boom followed as the nitro thrusters were fired. Five other high-speed cruisers followed.

"Bryan are you alright?" Takara asked. The man winced as he straightened, but nodded. Lilly turned and looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry! So sorry!" she spoke, "It's my fault he bolted like that, I… I'm sorry."

"It's okay Lilly, if I know Charly, she'll have him in jail before the day is over," Takara assured. Max approached and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Lilly… was that, really your brother?" he asked. Lilly nodded meekly.

"I thought he was dead, he vanished with his gang during one of the clashes he had with an enemy gang, presumed dead, but… he's alive, and doesn't remember me," she sobbed.

"Amnesia," Bryan volunteered quietly.

"Bryan, are you sure you're okay? Thos were some powerful bullets," Takara tried to distract the sobbing Lilly, but it only served to make her cry harder. Vega neared and took the girl aside.

Inside, one agent opened the door at the far end of the hallway, the sight that greeted them was that of a nightmare. The room inside was totally ablaze. It was the warehouse part of the place, and even more crates were stacked against the wall. And the worst part, most of them were marked 'TNT'.

"Sir!" Carlos yelled, "Fire! And the stuff here is mostly explosives! We have a situation on our hands!" With that said the agent found the glass cover of the sprinkler trigger and smashed it with his fist, turning the sprinklers on. Water began to fall from the ceiling.

Spencer put a hand on his earpiece, "Ian, we have a shipment of TNT is on fire here, call the fire department, and evacuate. If this place goes up, the devastation will be severe," he broadcasted.

'This just gets better and better, doesn't it? The sniper Bryan busted just got away. And nearly shot one of the FBI chicks, now she's hysterical. We have a situation out here too, I'll see what I can do, get out of there,' Ian replied over the com link.

"Got it," Spencer cut off the link, "Alright men, scramble, lets get out of here in case that place does go up," with that the agents began to file out. Making sure along their way that no one was forgotten and left behind.

**_Author Notes:_**_So this is chapter 28. I bet you guys didn't expect that Terry was Lilly's older bro. Hold your questions, everything will be revealed soon. Stick around for the next chapters of DG! Things are just heating up!_


	29. Mission Impossible Part 3

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Part three of the Mission Impossible saga. I'm not spoiling anything. But some of you are going to like this chapter a whole lot._

**__**

**_Chapter #29:_** _Mission Impossible [Part 3]_

The group outside was still in shock over the events that happened. Ian appeared from the SWAT monitoring van. "Guys we have a problem. We have to go now. Spencer just called in; there are explosives in there. And they are on fire," he spoke. The group looked at him oddly.

"Call the fire department. And the explosives squad," Vega spoke. Ian nodded.

"Done that," he replied.

"Call HAZMAT as well, we don't know what type of explosives they have," Bryan added. At that moment, Spencer and the rest of the SWAT agents appeared from the building.

"Lets go!" Tyson called. The groups moved to their respective vehicles, with Charly gone, the girls had to use Takara's echo, which was not really too comfortable for more than three people.

Kai was not pleased with the events, during the ride following the other girls he kept looking out the window. The guys didn't bother him; they never did when he was in such a brooding mood. His hand idly drifted to the side pocket of his jeans, where he kept his normally turned off, but fully charged, cell phone. By now he fully memorized Charly's cell number, and was tempted to use it.

"What do you make of today?" Rei wondered.

"I'm worried for Lilly," Max replied, "She took it pretty hard. Who wouldn't, having your own brother shoot at you, and look at you as if you were the enemy."

"I think she'll be okay," Tyson replied.

"I don't know about that Tyson," Kenny voiced as he slowed down the Chevy a little bit. There was a moment of silence in the car. "Lilly is the type of girl who would take it personally to keep her brother away from trouble. I have a feeling that she will have trouble adapting. Going from thinking your brother is dead, to knowing that he is alive, doesn't remember you, and thinks of you as the enemy, it must be hard on her. Max you have a reason to be worried for her." Max frowned but didn't say anything beyond that. He didn't have to.

"Kai, you're quiet, what's on your mind?" Tyson asked. Kai turned to glare at him but Tyson didn't seem to be too effected.

"There is something you guys need to know," Kai finally spoke, "I've had a conversation with Leonard Patterson and from what I can tell, the FBI is willing to clean our slates for a favor. I was told that we were inadvertently got involved in a big operation and that we could be of some use to the FBI as liaisons."

"That was… predictable, they go by the old 'if you can't buy them off, make them join you' routine thing," Tyson piped up.

"You can't be seriously thinking of actually joining them are you?" Tala wondered that was the last thing he wanted.

"There's a catch," Kai continued.

"How did I know he was going to say that," Tyson mumbled.

"Patterson thinks that it would be best that we share living arrangements with the girls. Should we decide to join the merry group. Charly and I visited the proposed location; it is the old Fed Ex warehouse two miles away from our place. You know the one I mean." Kai finished.

"That's not too bad of a catch," Rei spoke, "I was expecting tracking cuffs or something."

"I'm okay with it, the girls are cool. If our little escapade with them was any indication," Max voiced.

"I'm okay with it if you guys are okay with it," Tyson added.

"If that place has a phone line, I'm okay with it," Kenny added.

"I don't believe you guys, they are damned feds!" Tala folded his arms, a look of utter displeasure on his otherwise bored features.

"I guess it's decided. The place is undergoing some renovation currently, and it will be done in a couple of days. And Tala, they are feds, but they still need our help," Kai spoke. With that said the man turned back to the window of the car and said no more.

Meanwhile Charly was chasing the run away cruiser down the freeway. The chase was one hazard after another. The other cruisers fell behind, unable, or unwilling to dodge cars without signaling. Where everyone was doing a hundred kilometers per hour or so, she was forced to push one hundred and forty. The run away cruiser was still too fast. Above she could hear the rotary rumble of a police helicopter, which was not what she needed about now.

She was driving a civilian car, with so many cruisers on her tail, if that pilot was dumb, he would think she was that one being chased, and would call for backup. And if those cop idiots spiked her tires, Terry was free to escape.

'My kingdom for one of the other girls being here, we could've did a pincer move on that bastard and made him slow down,' she thought. But deep in the back of her mind she knew how risky that was going to be at such speeds.

"Ack! Shit!" Charly veered just in time to avoid a clumsy eighteen-wheeler who decided to shift lanes between her and the runaway cruiser, making her loose sight of him for the moment. Were he driving a regular common car, he could've easily blended in right about now. But one thing was going for her; Terry wasn't the brightest bulb in the package. He chose to drive the most conspicuous car on the freeway.

Looking out her rearview mirror she could see the other five cruisers were slowly falling behind. The police officers did not wish to shift lanes as erratically like she had to, just to keep a visual line over the man, she just wished he would run out of fuel, and hoped her car wouldn't do that sooner.

Terry meanwhile was trying his darn best to drive with one hand. The bullet that broke his driver-side window sent shards inside, and one cut up his right upper arm, making even the slightest movement from it excruciatingly painful. He couldn't even afford to stop and do something about the unceasing blood flow. Somewhere in the bank of his mind, all of this seemed to familiar, but he couldn't tell why, how, or when he was in this situation before. Thinking about it caused a huge headache to rise in his temples, as if something was blocking him from remembering. The tank of the cruiser was full, and if he continued to go like this, he knew he could probably make it; there cruisers were designed for long chases. He got a break when that eighteen-wheeler moved between him and the perusing Celica. He dropped about ten kilometers and looked down at his wound.

"Damn her," he cursed, but despite his anger at being wounded, for some reason he couldn't be angry with the blond woman that inadvertently caused his wound. His anger seemed fake, and wrong. But nothing made sense to him, and with each passing minute, thinking became more and more difficult as the blood from his arm continued to ooze in a river over his limp arm, down his jeans, seat, and finally to the car floor.

Back at the base, the gang arrived at the girl's hideout. Waiting for news, the atmosphere was tense knowing that right now, somewhere, one of them was chasing a highly dangerous criminal. Lilly walked upstairs to clean up, partially not wanting the guys to see her tear-stained face, she managed to mostly hold it in while in their presence. But the second she was alone with the girls, they burst free. None of the girls blamed her for getting emotional.

The guys seemed exhausted, but no one more than Bryan, who looked like he was put through hell and then some. As soon as he was out of the black van he reached for the Velcro clasps of his bulletproof vest, the ones at his side were a snap. But the second he raised his arms to undo the ones holding it tight on the shoulders, pain seared through his back as if he was really shot. He had no delusions about not having two sizable bruises on his back by about now.

"Here let me help," Takara spoke, he looked up, noticing that the others have left, going inside undoubtedly. Takara smiled warmly and reached to undo the Velcro on his shoulders.

"Thanks," Bryan spoke as he clumsily pulled the vest off.

"You're welcome, we should be thanking you. Lilly is our friend, and you saved her life today."

"Just doing my job," Bryan replied as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. He glanced at the back of the vest; there were two indents in it, where the slugs were imbedded. They went through the top layer of the vest, but didn't penetrate the bottom.

"Come inside when you're done with things. Hikaru is making everyone her special relaxant green tea," Takara added. The man nodded and almost smirked at that. It was odd to think that these girls were once criminals too. Even for FBI they were somewhat soft and lenient. It was a nice respite from working with 'suit guys' who would've barked their heads off at him for making the tactical mistake of not patting down Terry. It was that mistake that almost cost Lilly her life, and it was that mistake that was reason his back was now killing him. Takara watched him, she couldn't read his emotionless features, but something told her that Bryan was blaming himself for Lilly almost getting shot. She felt bad for him, but there was little she could actually do to help him.

The back of the van was still open and Bryan reached inside, opening one of the small two trunks they had there under the machinery consoles, pulling out a clean shirt. He didn't want gunpowder residues that probably went through the vest, getting in contact with already irritated skin. Clumsily gripping the back of his black tee he pulled it off before chucking it in the trunk and shutting it.

"Oh and Takara?" he called just as the girl was walking out.

"Yea?" she turned around, catching him buttoning up the light blue cotton shirt. He was facing her, struggling with the top-most button, the rest of the shirt still unbuttoned. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers before she averted her gaze. But it didn't look like he noticed her reaction.

"Thanks again."

"You're welcome," Takara squeaked out before turning around and fleeing the room as fast as she could, a blush rising on her cheeks at having seen him almost shirtless. 'He did that on purpose!' she thought to herself.

The minutes wore on as Charly continued to chase after the run-away cruiser. It seemed like the driver had an unyielding stamina. And a huge full tank of fuel. Her Celica started running low about fifteen minutes before. Already the fuel light was flashing, warning her of the situation. They turned off the freeway about twenty minutes before. The other cruisers were still lagging behind. But the chopped was still circling above, following closely. The streets of upper LA were almost empty as the night wore on, and that was a good thing. She did not want to endanger lives with this chase. After five more minutes of chase, the meter light on the dashboard solidified and Charly knew that she was outdone. She only had enough fuel to find a gas station. With an aggravated sigh she pressed the brakes, slowing the Celica to a stop. The Cruiser continued on, and soon vanished out of sight.

"Damn him," she grumbled. The chopper meanwhile continued, but she knew that it would soon too, need to pull back. And if Terry weren't busted by then, he would walk away scot-free.

Terry meanwhile slowed down; driving was increasingly difficult to him by now. As symptoms of blood loss finally began to set in, the first being the slight blurring of vision, and dimming peripheral vision. The chopper above continued to circle, and that was a sign that he wasn't free yet. Things looked grim for him, he couldn't keep this up for long. He noted that the Celica vanished, probably out of fuel, and he was glad for that. If the only thing chasing him was the copter, he could outdo it with the old tunnel trick.

After about fifteen minutes he noted the fuel light, the cruiser was starting to run dry on fuel. But he also noted the dimming hum of rotors; looking at the rear-view mirror he noted the flashing lights of the retreating copter. That made him smile; he outdid both the Celica and a chopper. Deciding it was now or never he gunned the engine and proceeded to the docks.

He arrived at the docks just as the cruiser died, out of gas, three blocks away from where the Oceanis was docked. Exiting the car he stumbled the rest of the way by foot, mindful not to leave blood trails that could and probably would lead the cops to the dock and right to his boss. Connor would surely feed him to the sharks, his favorite threat to insubordinates, if he did that. And with his wounds, the sharks would be on his faster than he could swim to shore.

On the Oceanis, Connor and Sarah were on deck. Connor was pacing, while Sarah lounged on a deck chair by the empty deck-side pool. A fan in her hands as she enjoyed the cool ocean breeze.

"I am going to kill Terry when he gets back here," Connor mumbled. Sarah just rolled her eyes at him.

"You do that little brother, and I will kill you," she spoke.

"Sarah that is not funny. What do you have for him anyways?"

"What can I say? The guy is a total hunk!" Sarah replied. Causing her younger brother to roll his eyes at her, a gesture she highly hated when he did, but he did it anyways.

Another of Connor's deck hands appeared, "Sir, Terry has returned, he's… injured," the man spoke.

"Oh no!" Sarah instantly bolted up, putting her fan on the table beside her deck chair. She almost ran to the gangplank as she noticed Terry stumbling on board, dripping blood on the lacquered wooden deck. Connor appeared, and frowned at the sight.

"I'm sorry boss," Terry apologized before finally loosing consciousness and collapsing on the deck, blood-loss having caught unto him. Sarah raced foreword and caught him, not caring that his blood was now staining her expensive clothing.

"It's okay Terry," she whispered in his ear, "You tried your best, now I'll take care of you." Turning to the deck hands she growled, "Bring him to my cabin, and be gentle!" she commanded in a cold tone. The deck hands stumbled and did as ordered, leaving Connor just standing there, looking utterly displeased.

Terry coming back in such a state meant one thing, the transfer point was lost. And that meant things just became personal, he would have to do something about those FBI agents himself. Starting with the woman named 'Red Fox'. Turning to the single deck-hand left nearby he glared, "Tell Anthony to set sail," he commanded.

"Right away sir," The sailor replied.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So how did you like that bit of Mind-Candy? I know I'm evil. But I was too tempted. Don't kill me all right. And I promise that next chapter Lilly will tell all just how Terry got so estranged._

**_Techno Corner:_**__

_Yep! It's time for a bit of a techno corner to explain some things in this chapter. _

**_HAZMAT:_**_ Before you ask me what a **'HAZMAT'** unit it. It stands for **'Hazardous Materials'** it's a unit that handles explosives, chemicals, and all manners of unidentified substances._

**_S.W.A.T VANS:_**_ A note about SWAT vans. Each SWAT unit has a mobile command center at its disposal. This vehicle, typically a van, has all manners of technology. From satellite tracking devices to keep tabs on agent's locations within a mission site, to all manners of communications links. To police, fire, ambulance, and different specialized units within the police department. It's also typically the co-ordination zone where on large operation; the SWAT technician can have all resources right at his fingertips to maximize the efficiency of his unit._

**_Bullet Proof Vests:_** _Yes I looked this up for the sake of the chapter. Standard bulletproof vests are fastened on Velcro. The reason, metal or plastic fasteners can impair protection if hit by a bullet. Most (not all models/types) vests have from two to six Velcro fasteners on the sides in total (one to three on each side). The shoulder straps are typically long, so that the vest is one-size-fits-all. They usually also have a Velcro strap to adjust the length so that the vest is as snug as possible and covers adequately. Some agents have been known to complain that after taking shots to the back, these straps are difficult to undo because they end behind the shoulder, and almost on the shoulder blade._

_Thanks for reading. I hope that answers any technical problems you guys might find._


	30. Lilly’s Story

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ The long awaited chappy 30. I can't believe it's thirty thought. Man I thought this fic would move faster. But I think it's cool how I can make it long and still logical. Anyways… Lilly reveals Terry's story. And the one man Charly wants to bust more than anyone is finally traced._

**__**

**_Chapter #30:_** _Lilly's Story_

Lilly walked down the stairs of their place after about an hour. She felt better after washing up and calming down a little. Everyone was still there in the living room. The SWAT agents weren't there, probably having left to get their due rest. And there was no sign of Charly, so she could only assume that the leader hadn't returned from her chase yet.

"Hey guys," her voice sounded quiet, somber even.

"Hey Lilly, feeling better?" Max asked. The blond girl nodded her head and smiled.

"Where's Charly?" Lilly wondered. The group exchanged glances.

"Still not back I'm afraid," Vega spoke.

"Lilly, if it wouldn't seen too blunt, can you tell us why you think that man today was your brother?" Rei wondered. Lilly shook her head and sat down in the overstuffed armchair that was for some reason left unoccupied.

"No it's not too blunt Rei," her mood seemed to take a dip as she sighed softly. "It happened two years ago. Terry was the leader of a gang in this neighborhood; he got involved with some wrong people and in a burst of violence his whole gang was gunned down one night. He vanished; the police thought he was killed too. But they never found his body. But I always thought he was still alive out there somewhere. So I went to search him in this neighborhood. Thinking maybe someone knew where he went, but I never found him either," Lilly explained.

"That's has to be difficult on you, now that you did find him," Max voiced.

"And that he has amnesia," Tyson piped up.

"He'll remember eventually, don't worry Lilly. Now that we know he's your brother, we can come up with an idea to keep him from getting killed by the FBI or cops," Hikaru spoke as she raised a cup of her favorite green tea to her lips.

"Thanks," Lilly sighed again.

"Guys I think it's about time we left, lets let the girls get their rest," Kenny spoke.

"Alright," Rei got up from his seat. The other guys followed behind. Kai however remained seated.

"You guys go ahead, I have to talk to Charly about business," Kai spoke. Tyson grinned a little but didn't say anything beyond that. The other guys shrugged and in ten minutes they were gone. The girls turned to look at Kai.

"I can assume you'll be spending the night?" Vega asked. Kai nodded.

"The couch is all yours then," Hikaru spoke. With that said the girls moved upstairs to get rest. Kai laid back on the couch after they were gone, kicking off his loosely tied timberlands. He didn't wish for the others to know that he was worried for Charly. But he still had to talk to her about the decision the guys made, that they will become liaisons for the FBI.

Half an hour later he heard the garage door open and a car drive in. A second later the engine died. Kai got up, padding to the garage, uncaring that his white socks were not going to remain clean. He saw the woman get out of her car and slam the door in a loud forceful 'thud'. She did not look pleased, it didn't take much to figure out how the chase went.

Charly put her hands behind her head, stretching, and completely unaware that in the darkness of the garage, Kai was watching her.

"I can only guess you didn't catch him," Kai spoke. Charly gasped and turned to look at him, lowering her arms.

"K-Kai?"

"Who did you expect?"

"Why are you here?" Charly's voice became cold; she was not in the mood to face Kai right about now.

"We have to talk," Kai replied, "Business," the way he said the word meant he was serious.

"I am not in the mood Kai, you can go," She moved to brush past him when he caught her elbow. Causing her to look at him.

"It wont be long, promise."

"Get your hand off of me… now," Charly hissed. Kai didn't move an inch; his hand remained on her elbow.  But a second later he let go, after realizing that the murderous look in her eyes was genuine. She was in a foul mood, and something told him that bothering Charly in such a foul mood would be a bad idea.

"We really need to talk," he whispered. At that the woman paused, his quiet tone calmed her somewhat, if only for a moment.

"About what, you have thirty seconds," she replied.

"I had a little conversation with the other guys about liaisons, FBI, and that fed-ex warehouse," he replied. That caught the woman's attention as she turned fully to him.

"Oh? And?" Charly quirked her eyebrow at him, she was curious.

"First I want to know what happened with the chase."

"Nothing, the bastard got away, my fuel ran out before his did," Charly replied evenly as if it was nothing. "Doesn't matter, we know his name, he wont get away."

"Lilly will be upset," Kai replied. That seemed to make the woman hesitate, but not for long.

"Lilly will have to adjust, a felon is a felon," she replied.

"Listen to yourself Charly! You sound like one of those suit guys, totally not caring about other people," Kai was alarmed by her tone, she seemed to withdraw into a shell, one of steel, a wholly business attitude. Whatever happened made her think like a cop, a goddamned cop, and he didn't like that. Pain flashed in her eyes at the accusation and he almost took the words back. But her emotional shell shattered before he could even open his mouth to form an apology. She cast her gaze down.

"You're right," she whispered, "It's just that… I don't want Lilly to get near that guy. You seen how mentally off he was, for Christ sakes he almost shot her!" Charly looked at the wall beside him, anything not to meet the intense gaze of the man before her.

"That's for her to decide what she is going to do about Terry. Our job is to advise her to the correct path. And if she chooses what we deem as wrong, then it's our job to protect her as she walks down her chosen path. Charly don't mother her. She's not going to like it," Kai argued. The woman nodded.

"You're right… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for snapping at you," Charly looked up and smiled a little, "I guess I'm tired." She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's okay, things are going to get better. I'll be there to help you, I promise," Kai whispered. The girl looked up at him sharply.

"How? What-" she stuttered but Kai stopped her by placing a finger on her lips.

"I've had a talk with the guys, and we decided to become liaisons. So yea, I'll be there for you," he explained. The girl smiled widely and grasped his wrist, pulling his hand away, suddenly she lunged foreword and hugged him, winding her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," Kai just held her there until he noticed the woman was staring to nod off. "You might want to get to bed now," he added. Charly moved away. Smiled again and walked inside the base. Kai shook his head and padded over back to the living room, by his way flicking off the light. He kicked back on the couch, and folded his arms over his chest, using the couch cushions like pillows he nodded off himself.

_---Elsewhere---_

The Oceanis was now out at sea, standing still far enough from shore so that it wasn't seen. Inside one of the cabins of the top deck. Terry was tossing under the covers on a very posh canopy bed. His right arm was bandaged from shoulder to elbow in white bandage. Cold sweat was over his brow. Sarah was peacefully asleep by his side, the bed was king-sized. So Sarah huddled into the side farthest from him.

Terry sat bolt upright, eyes wide in terror. His unhurt hand rose to his head. Visions kept flashing before his eyes. He was hearing gunshots, and screams. But he couldn't remember where this happened. It wasn't anything he, or Ace, or anyone else of Ace's cronies caused. These weren't fresh memories. They were more like hallucinations.

Suddenly he was overwhelmed by a nauseating feeling to his stomach and bolted out of bed, one hand flying up to cover his mouth. He sought the washroom that was undoubtedly attached to this posh suite, but the craving to throw up vanished when his hands touched cold water from the taps. He realized the feeling was because of the ship, the Oceanis was swaying on the waves. He wasn't normally sea sick, but blood loss probably did that to people.

He looked up at himself in the medicine cabined mirror. Finding that he was clad only in a pair of black-sweatpants and a matching tee. It didn't take a genius to know that someone took care of him, probably one of the other sailors, and the ship doctor.

"Terry are you okay?" a voice asked. The blond man turned around sharply.

"Sarah?" he asked.

"Yea, you shouldn't be out of bed hon, you lost a lot of blood you're still pale as paper," Sarah replied as she put her hands on her hips. The woman was clad in a white baby-doll tee with glittering hearts on it, and gray drawstring sweat-pants. Her bare toes barely stuck out from under the bottom hems of the pants.

"When did you get here?" Terry asked. He didn't like her presence; the woman almost always tried to make moves on him, and never got the clue that he wasn't interested.

"I got here while you were having fun with the SWAT," Sarah replied, she put her arms around his healthy arm and squeezed softly. To him, her skin felt like it was on fire, undoubtedly because he was the one with below average temperature. She tugged him towards the bed coyly. "Don't worry, I wont bite," she smirked. Terry gave up; he was feeling too faint to struggle with her. Where he normally would've loved to argue with the woman just because he could get away with it, he didn't have the strength for it at the moment. He lay back on the bed and she tucked him in like a little child.

"Harry said you'll be alright in a couple of days, you're a tough guy Terry, so he's not worried," Sarah spoke in a musical tone that sounded oddly pleasing to his tired and dizzy brain. Harry was the ship's doctor, Connor kept him always on board so that he'd have somewhere to go if by any chance he was hurt, the man didn't trust hospitals unless it was serious life-threatening injuries.

"Thanks Sarah," Terry whispered. Sarah smiled and moved to the other side of the bed.

"I'm just going to lie here, to make sure you're alright," She spoke. Her only reply was a soft snore from the blond man for he was already fast asleep. The look in Sarah's eyes softened as she admired his features with a smile. He was simply too adorable, and she loved every bit of his odd cuteness.

The next day, it was about noon or so on the clock. Leonard Patterson was in his office, poring over the mission report that Bryan dropped off in the morning. The man had compiled a very detailed report, and a long one at that. There was a nearly silent rap on the door.

"Come in," Leonard acknowledged. The door opened and a woman stepped in.

"Sir, I have the data on the van I was asked to trace," the woman approached the table, she was a tall middle-aged woman with long black hair that showed signs of graying, and slanted brown eyes. Her voice was slightly accented by an Asian tone. She was dressed in a knitted green sweater, with a while blouse under it, and a loose middle-shin length black skirt, with a pair of black loafers on her feet. She laid down a folder, which the man took and opened.

"Thank you Mrs. Chu," Leonard mumbled. The woman nodded and walked off, closing the door softly behind her.

Leonard went through the papers curiously, he smirked when he realized that the owner of the van matched the basic facts they had. He was the correct height, and build. And even had a previously unproven charge of identity fraud, one that was discarded due to lack of evidence against him. Putting his finger on the communication unit next to him he activated the link to his secretary, "Mrs. Hansen, call Charlene… I believe we have the Doppelganger," he spoke.

"Right away sir," the secretary replied.

**_Author Notes:_**_ So this is chapter 30. About Tala/Vega, they're a slightly trickier couple to pull of than K/C but don't worry, I will get there somewhere. I have something in mind; you guys are going to like it! Believe it or not, I actually like writing Tala/Vega because they seem like THE perfect couple. But it's tricky, and I don't want to ruin the story by shoving in some mush that just doesn't fit or seem to serve a purpose. The next couple of chapters will be more action, (Doppelganger WONT go down without a fight) and then I will follow through with a nice mush chapter. (Moving to a new base couldn't be a better opportunity for some accidental mush)._


	31. Fox In Disguise Part 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 31 was a bit slow to come out. I had a bit of a motivation leak. But I think I'm over it now. Thank goodness to. You guys helped a bunch with kind reviews. _

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**_Chapter #31:_**_ Fox In Disguise [Part 1]_

It was about three pm the same day that Charly arrived at the FBI building in downtown Los Angeles, after having dropped off last night's 'guest' at his place. She didn't tell Kai of the information, knowing full well that he would want to be involved. She figured it would be best to tell him when she actually had concrete information on her hands.

Charly stepped into Leonard's office even without knocking, which was unusual for her. Leonard looked up at the intrusion and frowned. But before he could berate the woman, he noticed the cold look in her eyes.

"I was told there is data on this Doppelganger fellow. I intend to bring him in personally," Charly spoke.

"Sit down Deamen. And we'll talk," Leonard replied. Charly slumped down in the seat across from the man, but it was clear that she wasn't in the most calm of moods. "Here's the data, all that we have, which isn't much," Leonard pushed the folder of paper across the table towards the woman. "I know you want to bring him in yourself, and I also know that on some degree you have the right to it. But I don't want you to do anything. Take at least one of the girls with you, Vega preferably. I don't want your temper getting you killed," Leonard added.

"My temper is not the issue here," Charly replied gruffly.

"I still want you to take Vega, Hikaru, or Takara along."

"They have nothing to do with this case, this, to me, is personal. However there is another person that also has the right to bring him in, and I intend to let him have that right," Charly replied. Leonard nodded and crossed his arms before him; it didn't take much to realize that the woman meant Kai. He was perfectly okay with that because the man seemed like he had a head on his shoulders.

"There is another matter, about the events of last night. I have to say I am pleased with how things went on with the S.W.A.T thought I am not particularly pleased with the events that followed. Bryan dropped off his report in the morning. He mentioned something about one of the suspects being Lilly's brother, I want to know what's happening there, how is she?" Leonard asked.

"She's managing, a little upset, but the real heroism is on Bryan's part, he took two bullets for her. You know Lilly, she hates when people are hurt because of something she does or says, so half the reason she's upset is because of Terry, and the other half is because Bryan had to take the bullets for her. I didn't see Bryan since last night, but from what Vega told me, he's okay, that guy has nerves of steel."

"Alright Deamen, get out of here, oh and one more thing. Don't do dumb heroics stunts, if you want to take this guys down personally, at least take Kai along, I don't want you getting hurt. And I don't want you doing this solo, is that clear?" 

"Crystal sir," Charly got up from her seat, scooping up the folder in her arms, she moved for the door, even if people thought otherwise, she knew that alone she probably would shoot the guy dead just out of a temper flash. She knew that she couldn't do it alone, even if she tried.

Later that evening, Charly returned back to their home base. In a rather better mood than one might have expected from her. In her hands she held a large square box, and on top of that was a rather thick manila folder. Hikaru, Takara, and Lilly were in the living room as she entered, watching news.

"Hey Charly, what's up?" Takara asked, looking up when she head movement behind the couch.

"Oh nothing, nothing except that here I have all the data I need to bring down that bastard Doppelganger," Charly replied.

"Hey can we take a look?" Lilly wondered.

"Sure, where's Vega?" Charly laid down the papers on the table before the television.

"Over at Bart's, he's got some new parts in, and she gets priority sifting through them for anything decent," Takara looked down at the papers. Charly sat down on the other couch and raised her arms over her head to stretch out.

"What's in the box?" Hikaru wondered, eyeing the square cardboard box with curiosity. Charly chuckled and grabbed it, opening it.

"My own little solution to the dilemma. I decided that to beat a doppelganger, you have to act like a doppelganger, in other words… take a page from his book," the brunette opened the box and pulled out a blond wig the color of almost honey. Under it was a set of neatly folded up clothing.

"I hope you're not planning of going alone," Lilly spoke.

"How come everyone tell me that? First L.P. and now you guys. Geez people, do I look suicidal?" Charly sighed in exasperation.

"How are we supposed to know?" Hikaru wondered. The three exchanged glanced between them.

"We'll go if you want, we'll be happy to go," Lilly volunteered for all three of them.

"Its okay, I have someone to back me up," Charly put the wig back in the box and closed it; she got up and moved to the door of the room.

"Who?" Takara enquired, she knew perfectly well that Charly would probably answer 'Vega' and in the end, she would end up going alone. She would threaten Vega into either giving her an alibi, or just being difficult about finally telling the truth.

Charly paused by the doorjamb. She sighed, knowing that they were just trying to do what was best for her, but she didn't want an extra people worrying over nothing.

"Kai," she replied finally, with that said she proceeded up to her room. Back in the living room Hikaru, Takara, and Lilly were in mute shock; that answer having been the least expected answer from the woman. But now more than ever they suspected that Charly had something planned.

"Do we tell him before she can sugar-coat him into giving her an alibi?" Takara wondered.

"That would be the right thing to do, but I doubt that Kai is easily bought off. He isn't quite as effected by her threats. Besides, I have seen how worried he was for her last night. I dare bet that if we tell him, he probably would cuff her to the nearest solid, bolted down object, just to stop her from going," Lilly shifted in her seat.

"We'll see," Hikaru spoke.

"But how can we tell him? The guys didn't bother to leave a phone number, and I doubt it's listed," Takara spoke up. At that all three frowned, knowing that Takara was right.

It was the next morning that the girls were having breakfast when they heard an engine outside. A loud, rumbling, if somewhat familiar engine. At least to Vega it was very familiar. The black-haired woman got up from her seat at the kitchen table, grabbing an apple from a fruit basket on the counter she jogged to the garage. With a press of the big button on the wall, the door began to slide up. As soon as it was half open, a Ford GT rolled in, it's engine purring as cleanly as the day it was manufactured.

"Hey, what brings you here Kai?" Vega wondered as she saw him lock up the car after parking it, taking a bite out of the apple in her hands.

"I have to talk to Charly about the new living arrangements," Kai replied.

"Oh, well… before you go up to her home office I just have a little warning for you. She's in a bad mood. Figures the guy, Doppelganger, was traced. And now she's kind of busting her head open over how to get that bastard off the streets," Vega mumbled, taking another bite with a loud crunch. She punched the button on the wall again with the side of her fist, making the door close.

"Thanks Vega," Kai moved inside, as if he owned the place, Vega shrugged. In some degree, he soon would own their place of residence. Between his and Charly's obvious love of leadership, and Jupiter-sized egos, things were sure to get interesting. Then a thought struck her, one that she hadn't thought of before.

The guys were going to share living arrangements with them; all six of them, and that meant that she would have to see Tala more often. 'Hn… as long as he stays out of my way, I'll be happy,' she thought, taking another bite of her apple before going back inside.

Kai dropped by the kitchen briefly to say his good mornings, seeing no reason not to be at least half civil, before making his way upstairs. It wasn't the first time he found himself in the long, windowless hallway of the upper floor. He knew Charly's door the instant he saw it, since it had a 'Do not disturb' tag hanging on the doorknob. Ignoring the friendly warning he gently knocked on the door. Before edging it open and stepping inside. He found Charly sitting by her desk.

The room around her seemed very personal by the amount of picture frames, mostly of her and the rest of the girls present. On the windowsill was an incense candle, lit, and the air was perfumed by the scent of pine needles, an odd scent but a relaxing and gentle one.

"I'm working, breakfast can wait," Charly muttered. She was yet to look up at her visitor, which told Kai one thing. It was her way of saying 'Get lost' without actually saying it.

"The breakfast smells nice though," he spoke with a small grin on his features. Charly looked up in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, getting up. The woman was clad in what he surmised was her pajamas. A loose pair of white cotton drawstring pants and a yellow tee shirt with its sleeves hacked off and the bottom hem cut short so it revealed about an inch of her stomach.

Seeing his eyes wander progressively down, Charly rolled her eyes before grabbing her robe and pulling it on. "Men," she mumbled. 'Note to self, get better pajamas,' she added to herself.

"I'm here to talk about our new living arrangements, and something else. I can leave and come back in fifteen if you like, due to your obvious state of… undress," the way he spoke betrayed his amusement at her sense of modesty as he looked up. The outfit she wore revealed very little, but she still insisted on a robe. Not many women were like that. Not that he knew many women enough to be this bold.

Kai looked her in the eyes, "The living arrangements can wait. What is this I heard from Vega about you feds tracking down that bastard… what's his name, Doppelganger." Kai stumbled on the name; it was unusual for a criminal to have such a name, apt as it may be.

"Vega set you up to this huh?" Charly wondered. Reaching on her desk she plucked a single sheet of paper from the neat pile and handed it to him. "His name Rodney Foster, age twenty-five or so his registry says. One previous unproven charge of identity fraud. And countless others that weren't even traced back to him. I bet he did so many that even a life sentence can't cover them all. One thing eludes me is that how someone with such a household name could turn out so bad. The FBI ran background check on him. Figures he came to the USA from England twenty years ago. His parents both dead in a catastrophic car crash five years ago. Okay so maybe he has a reason to go criminal, but the field of work is a bit odd, one might have expected a burglar," Charly recited.

Kai raised an eyebrow; she was reciting what was about the same thing that was written on the page, nearly word for word. He had to remind himself that the woman had photographic memory, it wasn't that surprising if she spent some time reading this data.

"So you're planning to bust him yourself?" Kai wondered.

"That's the plan, and before you go saying what Patterson, and the girls think, no I'm not suicidal, close but not quite. I have a plan," Charly explained.

"Charly, there is a difference between bravery, and stupidity. Right now you're being stupid," Kai commented with a bored expression on his face.

"I don't care what you think, I want that guy off the streets and behind bars. I thought that you of all people would understand. For the love of God, Kai, he paraded like you, and hadn't it been for my little allergy, I would've though he was you!" Charly glared at him, her eyes narrowed to slits. It was clear that her temper has finally snapped.

"And that's why I'm coming with you."

"What… oh," Charly's mouth hung open in surprise.

"He's getting what he deserves Charly, and I will see to that," Kai added. Charly clamped her jaw shut and smiled.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Charly wondered, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Kai seemed thoughtful for a second.

"When I'll find out myself, I'll tell you," he said. Charly smiled and chuckled before slugging his arm playfully. "Now how about breakfast?" Kai continued.

"Is there black coffee?" she asked.

"You like that stuff?" Kai wondered in surprise. Charly only nodded, Kai smirked.

"Me too, black coffee for both of us then," with that he turned to the door.

"I'll be down in a nano, just gotta change," Charly spoke. Kai nodded and left the room. Charly watched him go and shook her head. "I don't know why, but that guy, is too good to me." With that said she moved to get dressed.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Oh I love the ending here. So cute! Anyways… hope you guys enjoyed that. Hell I know you guys probably enjoyed that. And the next bunch of chaps are gonna be good. I have a sweet T/V thing planned right after I finish this saga with Doppelganger._


	32. Fox In Disguise Part 2

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 32! I know you guys been waiting for it, well finally here it is! In this chapter Rodney gets his just deserts, and Kai is more than willing to dish out payback!_

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**_Chapter #32:_** _Fox In Disguise [Part 2]_

Charly appeared in the kitchen barely five minutes later, dressed in most of her usual ensemble. Her hair was still down and the girl seemed a little more cheerful. The kitchen was empty, but it was set for two.

"The girls already finished while you were upstairs," Kai spoke.

"Gee I hadn't noticed," Charly replied, voiced laced with sarcasm.

"You're always this gruff?"

"Yes, before I had my coffee," Charly replied, moving to the coffee maker. She was a coffee addict, and she knew it. But that was her secret to pulling five hours of sleep most nights, and still being ready to kick the world's butt a few times over. Kai already had a cup, and it looked like he wasn't particularly interested in it.

"So when are you going to get that bastard?" Kai asked. Charly shrugged as she put down the cup on the table before moving to the toaster, popping in two slices of bread and sliding the lever down.

"Preferably tonight, the new base is almost done, so… I need to start packing my things. Though, I think we'll need one of those 'U-Haul' trucks. I hate moving," she mumbled the last part as she opened the fridge and dug around inside, pulling out a glass jar of strawberry jam. "You want toast? We got Frosted Flakes too," she added.

"I'm not hungry, already ate. Though I must admit, this coffee is a tad too strong, even for me," Kai replied. The girl cast a sideway glance at him.

"Hmm… I must be used to it by now," she shut the fridge and sat down next to Kai. "I appreciate you helping me Kai, it means a lot to me," she whispered softly, one hand moving to rest on his forearm on the table.

That evening, Kai returned in his GT at about six. After filling up his tank and getting his bulletproof vest and a jacket. The forecast showed an unusually chilly evening for LA. As he drove in, he saw Vega in the garage; she was sitting on the hood of Charly's Celica.

"Where's Charly?" he asked. Vega smirked.

"Still getting ready I bet, I have a little request from you Kai, whatever you do, don't let her be with the Doppelganger fellow alone for any reason, and I do mean any reason. She's liable to cause a scene or worse, kill the bastard. Like it or not, we still need him for the investigation," Vega spoke.

"I wasn't planning on sitting back anyways, I have a few words to exchange with him too," Kai replied, cracking his knuckles.

"Conspiring against me… huh Vega?" Both turned their gaze at the garage door that led inside. There stood Charly, but she was next to unrecognizable in her outfit. Which consisted of black leather sandals, a knee-length black miniskirt with a five-inch slit at the side, a baby-blue spaghetti-strapped top, around her neck was a silk royal blue scarf tied with it's ends at the side. But the most striking feature was her hair; it was shorter now, and honey blond in color. The wig suited the outfit perfectly, but it didn't match her ember eyes. In her hands she also held a royal blue purse on a long strap that could allow hanging it on the shoulder.

"Hmm… good outfit. Except… it's a bit, well… not you," Vega spoke.

"That's the whole damn idea Vega," Charly retorted.

"I think it's good," Kai put in. Both women looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"A man _would_ think that looks good," Vega pushed off the hood of the Celica and stood straight, "Well you two… get going, and don't do anything I wouldn't," with that said the black-haired mechanic walked away.

"Don't mind Vega, let's go," Charly spoke. Kai nodded a bit, and moved to the passenger side of his GT, opening the door for Charly to get in, which she did.

"Seat belt," he spoke quietly as he got in the drivers seat and fired up the engine, reaching for his own seat belt. Charly buckled in and smirked.

"Love the interior finish, I always thought you were the leather type," she commented in a somewhat vain effort to make conversation as they drove off.

"Vega treats this whole thing as if it's a date," Kai remarked.

"It's not a date," Charly replied, her eyes remained focused out the passenger side window, anything to hide the blush she knew she had about now, when he spoke she realized that to some degree, someone could treat this as a date, except that person would think busting a criminal was a fun thing to do on a date.

The two arrived on location barely forty minutes later. The roads were oddly clear of traffic at this time of day. Kai drove into the parking lot and turned off the engine, turning to look at Charly he noted her gaze was locked on the bar; looking at the name he realized this was a very prestigious place.

"Somehow it's hard to believe he can afford visiting this place," Charly spoke in a quiet tone of voice.

"I'm coming with you," Kai spoke, thought he sounded serious about it Charly shook her head.

"Sorry Casper, if that bastard so much as sees a glimpse of you, he'll know we're on to him, because there is no way you alone could've found him. I'm afraid this is where I fly solo," Charly replied. "Besides, I got my gun, and some pepper spray, and I'm ready." She added, one hand moving to rest over his on the gear stick, coaxing the white-knuckle grip he had on it to loosen.

"I don't like it," Kai retorted.

"I know, but… there is nothing to be done," Charly moved her hand away and reached for the seat belt, Kai undid his seat belt as well. Just as Charly was reaching for the door Kai smirked.

"Look," he spoke. Charly looked up and chuckled.

"We'll I'll be a monkey's uncle, that's him with that woman there," she spoke. Across the street, exiting from the club was a man, with a black haired woman hanging on his arm. By her outfit the conclusion as to her identity was clear, a hooker, and an expensive one.

"Well I guess I can come with you," Kai commented.

"Oh alright, just stay back for a few," Charly pushed the door open and got out. It felt much better to be doing this with Kai backing her up, she felt a little more confident in her abilities.

Charly moved across the street slowly, evaluating her situation. Finally, as casually as possible she approached the two of them. The woman noticed her approach first.

"What do you want Blondie?" she demanded but Charly only smirked.

"There is something I need to discuss with the man here," she replied, one hand sliding into her purse, she pulled out her automatic, the hooker squeaked in shock. Her eyes widened a second later she turned around and ran off.

"Who the hell are you?" Rodney demanded.

"You're under arrest," Charly's voice sounded smug. Rodney immediately grabbed his own gun, but before he could raise it, he felt the cold press of metal against the back of his head.

"Drop the gun, and I wont shoot you," Kai spoke coldly, his silver and chrome gun again the man's head, and he was more than willing to pull the trigger on this scumbag. Rodney obeyed and dropped the gun unto the ground. Neither noticed that his now free hand slid to the back pocket of his jeans. A second later he turned around sharply, throwing his arm foreword. On reflex Kai leapt back, the blade of the flick-dagger held by Rodney barely missed his gut.

"You!" Rodney recognized the man. Charly raised her own gun, now she has the right to shoot the man, but her hand was unstable for a strange reason, she couldn't pull the trigger and risk Rodney moving, and the bullet hitting Kai.

Rodney meanwhile lunged at Kai again, "Stay back Charly, I'll handle him," Kai shouted as he dodged another stab from the criminal. Bringing his fist foreword it connected with the man's gut, causing him to buck upwards from the impact, Kai didn't stop, and the second punch hit Rodney square in the face. Turning slightly, gracefully, Kai brought his elbow on the stunned man's spine, hard, sending him sprawling on the pavement, groaning in pain. Kai put his foot on the man's arm, pinning his flick-dagger down. Kai leveled his gun with the man's head. "Give me one reason not to shoot you now," he spoke.

Charly snapped out of her state of mental shock and approached Kai, putting her hand on his gun, shaking her head, Kai understood. And lowered his gun, instead he pressed his foot sharper into the man's forearm.

"Stop Kai!" Charly called, she dug pulled out a cell phone and dialed the police to come take Rodney away, meanwhile putting her foot on the man's other arm, making sure he wouldn't get away, though she doubted he was in any condition to run, Kai punched him pretty hard. Kai glared down at the man the whole five minutes they waited for the detainment ambulance, after such an encounter with Kai, Rodney needed treatment.

The police arrived, and searched the man, making sure he had no other concealed weapons before cuffing him and taking him to the hospital, under heavy guard. They also collected his gun, and knife as evidence. The officers didn't ask from where such injuries came from, the sight of Kai rubbing his knuckles was enough to guess what happened.

Kai watched the cars leave before turning to Charly who pulled off her wig, no longer needing it, her auburn-gold streaked locks cascaded freely, "It's done, I feel a lot better," she remarked. Kai could only nod at that. He felt better after letting the man have a piece of his mind; no one impersonates him to get at his friends. Charly wordlessly moved towards his GT, and Kai followed. He watched her closely as she wordlessly climbed into the passenger seat of the car and buckled up.

"Charly?" Kai began. The woman looked up at him.

"Hmm?"

"One suggestion if I may," Kai began, turning on the engine. "Never dye your hair blond." He finished.

"Why?" Charly wondered.

"I don't like it," was Kai's reply as he drove off, silence resettled in the car, as both were content with just remaining silent. Charly however had a frail smile on her features.

Meanwhile on the Oceanis. Terry was walking the deck; it was the first day he was out of the cabin. Sarah refused to allow him to move in fear of him hurting himself. The woman was going to far and Terry was reminded an extra time why he disliked her as much as he did.

"I see Sarah finally let you walk on your own," Ace's voice floated over the quiet serenity of the ocean waves and the night.

"Yea, I swear if I had to be cooped up in there for one more day, I would've either killed her, or myself," Terry replied. A smirk appeared on Connors's features.

"Preferably her Terry, I still need you as a right hand man," Connor replied with amusement in his voice, he loved his sister, truly, but she did have a tendency to overdo things.

"There is something you should know," Terry turned to the railing, putting his forearms on it, leaning forward. "One of Red Fox's groupies… seems to think I'm her brother."

"Interesting," Connor looked up at the sky calmly. Terry watched him silently, he could almost hear the gears grinding; Connor was once again scheming. For some reason this felt very wrong to him for once. He could still see the girl in his mind, it was like an imprint. For once he questioned his memories of his past, he had a gap in his memory, about a year or so. That no amount of therapy, and no therapist, hypnotist, or any other sort of scientist could get through.

'Could I really be that girl's brother?' Terry thought to himself, 'and if I am… shit! If I know Connor as well as I think I know him, she is going to suffer,' Terry looked out at the inky darkness of the ocean. He felt sick to his stomach, and it wasn't the ship swaying this time, it was a different form of sickness. His throbbing headache in his left temple was back again, the same headache he got whenever he tried to remember anything from that one year gap in his memories, it was as if his mind was struggling with all it's might to keep that part of his memory shut up from him. Terry found himself desperate to remember, he knew he was missing something, something important, something that he had to remember, at any cost.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Okay so it's not the best, but I tried. I know you guys are probably disappointed there, but I didn't want to drag that out too long. So yea…_


	33. The Move

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 33. This chapter features fan service for you T/V fans. And for Tala fans in general. And it also advances the plot a little. Read on… and review. Or else!_

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**_Chapter #33:_** _The Move_

It was three days later that life seemed to move on. Leonard authorized the group a week off to get settled into their new place. And today was moving day. Vega walked the new base; the drywalls were now fully raised and painted. The two washrooms of the building fully functional. There was electricity, heating, hot and cold water, all the comforts.

They had so much stuff that the U-Haul trucks they rented had to make multiple trips. Which meant someone had to stay there, people had to stay here to help move stuff around, and someone had to drive the trucks.

So Vega found herself in the base, coordinating the sorting. Hikaru and Takara were helping her along with Max and Tyson. Vega was in the new garage, a transformed shipping bay, the platforms where shipment trucks once docked to, had ramps installed allowing cars to exit and come in.

There was a honk from outside and Vega moved to the docking bay, she smiled. Another U-Haul shipment arrived. "Max! Tyson! More of your stuff arrived!" She called. The two of them came racing from inside. Vega meanwhile jumped down from the platform and moved towards the truck. Spencer appeared from the driver's seat of the truck. He volunteered to help with the moving.

"That's about the last one, there is at least one more shipment coming," he spoke.

"Thanks, you're a saint Spencer, you didn't have to do this," Vega commented.

"I wanted to, besides. Working with only this case gives us a lot of free time on our hands. There is only so much we can do with it, and it's good to get a work-a-holic like Bryan away from work," Spencer voiced.

"He's that bad?" Vega wondered with a grin.

"Okay so maybe I'm exaggerating, but if he's not mulling strategy, then he's at the gym," with a shrug Spencer moved to the back, opening the rear of the truck, allowing the others to start unloading.

The day went by pretty much uneventfully. It was towards evening that the unpacking was in full swing. Tyson, Max, and Rei were handling the furniture. Vega was watching over them.

"Vega, the private rooms are ready," Takara reported. Vega nodded at her slowly.

"That's good," Vega replied. She watched as the last of the furniture was put in place. Now they had double of everything, which was a good thing in a sense. Tyson slumped down on one of the couches.

"Done and doner," he sighed, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Thanks you guys, you've been a lot of help," Hikaru spoke.

"Ah it's nothing," Rei replied shyly.

Lilly appeared in the doorway, "Kitchen now operational. Also now serving ice cream," she spoke. Tyson instantly leapt up from his seat and raced to the kitchen, causing the girls to chuckle. Rei and Max followed, but a little less enthusiastically than Tyson. Vega soon found herself alone in the new living room.

It was an hour later that Vega was on the roof of their new building. She was sitting Indian style on the roof, just watching the city light glow and flicker in the distance. She could see the outline of the high-rises, and the inky blackness of the ocean. Her mind drifted to directions of its own, but then it strayed to a certain devil that now had a room three doors down the hall from her, she growled.

Getting up she dusted herself before she felt an odd sensation of being watched. Turning around she saw nothing and shrugged it off before walking back towards the small staircase the lead up to the roof. She made a slow descent into the base, intent on getting some sleep, but as she turned the corner which led to the private rooms she froze, like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car, her eyes widened as she saw a sight she probably would never forget.

There, down the hallway was Tala, coming fresh out of the washroom clad only in a pair of black sweatpants and with a towel around his neck, he was using it to dry his hair. Vega stared and stared hard, her eyes drifted as if on autopilot down his toned upper body and up his powerful arms, his flawless skin still glistered with moisture, and only one line sprang to mind 'Does he even have a license to look so good?' She must've made a sound because a second later she saw him glaring at her down the hall. His ethereal ice blue eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the hallway.

"What the hell are you staring at?" he asked. But deep down he was smirking; 'so the unshakable Sting is reduced to a staring zombie,' inside he was smirking at the triumph over her.

"There is nothing to stare _at_," Vega snapped out of her stupor, anger bubbling within her. 'Nothing except a damn gorgeous bastard who's looks should be made illegal,' she thought. 'What the hell? Since when have I thought he was… attractive?!' she barked at herself at the realization where her thoughts were heading. She made a few steps closer, intent on letting him have a piece of her mind for that comment when he turned fully to her, and Vega froze, 'Do not look down… for the love of god do not look down!' Vega chanted at herself.

"Is there something you wanted to do other than ogle me like a bimbo?" he asked indifferently. That snapped her anger back on full force. Vega made the three steps and closed the distance between them, grabbing his towel she yanked him to eye level, twisting the towel so it wrapped more than tightly around his neck, constricting his breathing.

"Listen jackass, I don't know who you think you are, but A, I'm not ogling you. B, there is nothing _worth_ ogling on you! And C, you call me bimbo just one more time, and you will most definitely lose your classification as 'male'. Got it?!" She hissed. Tala just looked at her squarely in the eye, and Vega realized her error. She felt his arms slide around her waist. The heat from his skin seared like fire. Her hold on the towel around his neck loosened. Panic bells began to buzz, but the buzz became deafening as he pulled her close and she found herself almost pressed to him, with little more than her thin cotton tee separating skin contact, not that it did any good to block the heat.

"I hate being called a jackass," he spoke in a leveled tone.

"Well you are one, live with it," Vega barked back. "Now let me go, or I will carry out that threat. I mean it Tala, let… me … go," the way she said the last three words actually made him hesitate. She was hissing like a king cobra, and her voice dripped with just as much venom. To him this was a game, truth be told, he loved to piss her off just because he could. Not many men could piss Sting off and get away with it, and their bones in tact, but he had, twice in fact, but now he was beginning to think that this time he pushed his luck too far.

"Listen Vega," he spoke, quietly this time, almost whispering in a husky purr. Vega gulped, that tone, she didn't like it one little bit. "We have to bury the hatchet if we are going to work together here," he decided to take a somewhat different approach, if only to temper her ire a little bit.

"Let me go," she hissed, putting her hands over his towel she pushed at him, knowing better than to touch that flawless toned chest. But even through the towel she could feel everything. He could probably read her thoughts because he grinned like the ferocious animal people made him out to be.

"Are you sure Vega? I don't think you can stand on your own if I do," he whispered. Vega gulped again, he was right, her knees were oddly weak about now.

"Let me go!" she repeated anyways and pushed at him, at that moment he did let go, causing her to stumble for balance. A second late she regained her equilibrium and stalked off to her room.

"Jackass!" she barked a second before slamming the door to her room after her. Tala remained in the hallway, grinning from ear to ear he enjoyed that a lot, every little bit of it. He was no fool, and he knew that the effect was there. What he realized in that instant, was that the effect wasn't entirely one sided. He glanced at the bathroom door again, 'Damn her… I need a cold shower now,' he thought.

Vega slumped against her door inside her room and slid down, her knees finally gave way. 'God damn that infuriating man!' she thought angrily. 'Where does he get off doing that? And why the hell cant I clear my head, I don't want to think about what just happened. I do not want to think about the fact that I have just seen more of him than any woman had ever, probably.' Slamming her fist into the floor she sighed. "I refuse to be attracted to that… jackass!" she barked out loud. But deep down she knew it was too late, the attraction was there. Sighing in frustration she got up and made her way to the bed, collapsing on it without even discarding her shoes.

On the Oceanis, Connor was in his office when Sarah walked in, without knocking or asking for permission to enter. Connor looked up, the look in the woman's eyes was not a pleasant one.

"Rodney was busted. That FBI woman moves faster than I though. Your inside man said he's in the hospital after a brush in with Ghost's ire. Figures she called him for backup." Sarah spoke coldly.

"If Doppelganger is smart, he wont speak. But just in case, I want to be ready, this situation is getting a little too close and personal for my liking," Connor got up from his seat and walked over to the port window. Sarah nodded in agreement, but he could see that she was planning something. It was a look she got in her eyes when she schemed. "How's Terry?" he asked, hoping to derail her train of thought with the one thing she loved to talk about more than clothing.

"Terry is fine, though I think he is avoiding me," Sarah replied. Connor smirked, and tried to hide that smirk, he could understand why Terry would want to avoid Sarah like the black plague. But he didn't have the same excuse, Sarah was his sister.

Elsewhere on the very nose of the ship, Terry stood, watching the ocean. The inky darkness of the waves reminded him of the void he had in his memories. But as he stared off, visions came to him.

Terry found himself standing at gunpoint in front of a dark-skinned man. He looked angry, and Terry could feel pain. Looking around he saw familiar, yet unrecognized people around him, dead, or dying.

"You should've paid what you owed us," the dark-skinned man spoke. Terry looked at him sharply and just as he did a gunshot sounded, he felt the pain in his left temple as the bullet grazed the skin deeply, gouging out flesh, but not imbedding, or going through his skull. He lost all balance from the impact shockwave and the world began to dim around him. "Now you die!" the dark-skinned man spoke. That was the last thing Terry heard before the world gone black.

Shaking his head hard Terry waved the vision off, it was vivid in his mind, and the dull throb in his temple started again. "Now I know why this phantom pain haunts me, but who was that?" he asked aloud, looking up at the moon, his hands were clutching the railing of the ship hard, so hard that his knuckles long went white. "And it still doesn't answer whether that woman is my sister or not." He continued. Sighing he hung his head low. "Damn it… Lilly," the name sprang to mind suddenly. "I am so sorry."

**_Author Notes:_**_ Yea! I know, you guys been asking for T/V well I gave you guys somewhat a bonanza, with SE and DG. The chapter title is double meaning, which is cool. And my friend Raven  (The Chaotic Good on FF.net) also wrote a T/V vignette._


	34. Ghosts Of The Past

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Finally chapter 34. Lilly muses about her past, and Terry begins to remember things. A very Lilly-centric chapter._

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**_Chapter #34:_** _Ghosts Of The Past_

It was the next morning that the base was silent. Half the inhabitants were still sleeping off the previous day of moving, hauling, and all around exhaustion. Lilly was in the kitchen, humming away as she prepared her breakfast. Kenny was sitting at the table, spooning cereal and milk into his mouth, focusing intently on the newspaper print outs he did off the Internet.

Kai walked into the room lazily, still half asleep.

"Good morning Kai!" Lilly chirped joyfully.

"Morning," the blue-haired thug replied, making a bee line for the dish rack, grabbing his favorite cup, moving to the coffee-maker, however he paused. "Who brewed?" he asked. Lilly paused and glanced at him.

"I take it you had a brush in with 'Charly strength' coffee," she spoke, "Don't worry, that's not double strong how she likes it. Only she can drink black coffee that strong. We don't drink the stuff at all, just her. With you guys around, and only one maker, she finally has to cut down on her intake, three cups a day, double strong, can't be healthy," Lilly said with a note of amusement in her tone, but that note was somewhat tainted by worry for her friend.

Kenny looked up from his printouts, spoon of cereal halfway between the bowl and his mouth. "No wonder she's so… energetic," he spoke. Kai poured himself a cup and took a long swig from it, enjoying it.

"To put it mildly Kenny," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry guys, you probably don't really care," Lilly apologized. There was a ding from the microwave and the girl reached inside, pulling out her fresh waffles.

"It's okay Lilly," Kenny voiced, resuming eating his cereal. Kai didn't reply, just slumped into a seat with his cup of coffee. What Lilly said bothered him, sure everyone liked a cup of coffee now and again, hell he liked one every morning as a perk me up, but drinking three, double strong? Charly was either really stressed to need so much caffeine, or she was that addicted. And for the love of him he couldn't tell which one it was.

"The microwave is all yours," Lilly said, looking at Kai, sitting down with her waffles, putting a spoonful of honey on the top waffle before proceeding to eat the stack of two waffles.

"So what's on your agenda today?" Kenny wondered.

"Well, from what I know. Which isn't much; there is a currier coming. With the data files you guys could review if you want to catch up. Vega asked them from HQ just for that sake. Also later this week there will be an LA charity ball, some heads of major companies will be there, and Charly attends every year. She usually gives up a share of her yearly salary to charity, community service she likes to call it. All of us do, so we'll be there," Lilly explained.

"That's… something to do," Kai spoke quietly.

"Yes," Lilly sighed, "But it's also quite boring. All the important people, and then there is nothing much to do besides mingle. It's stiff-dress too, we usually just drop off the checks and leave."

Later that day, Lilly was in the living room watching TV. She kept musing about what happened in the last week or so. Finally finding her brother only to find out he didn't recognize her, and in fact was working for the enemy. No matter how much she dried to forget the empty look in his eyes, she couldn't. He didn't recognize her, not even a little. It hurt to know that one of these days, she was going to have to deliver her own brother on a silver platter to Leonard Patterson, cuffed, and ready for jail. Sighing deeply she turned off the TV, and lay down on the couch, looking up at the ceiling with a rather melancholy expression on her face.

"Hey Tyson, the Lakers game is about to start!" a loud voice suddenly called. Making Lilly jump up, looking over the top of the couch she saw Max standing there, half in the hallway, half in the room. He turned his head, noticing the blond girl, "Oh hey Lilly," he acknowledged.

"Hey Max," Lilly laid back down, by her tone Max could sense something was bothering the normally smiling blond woman. He could see the light of life was dimmed in her eyes, and the smile was replaced by a melancholy frown.

"What's wrong?" Max asked, leaning over the back of the couch.

"It's nothing Max, it doesn't matter," she replied, turning away. There was a set of running footsteps as Tyson almost slid into the living room, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and turning on the TV.

"Max, what channel?" he asked.

"Sixteen I believe," Max replied. Lilly sighed; she was actually having a nice conversation with Max until Tyson showed up, being hyper as ever.

"Hey Lilly, didn't notice you there," Tyson spoke, changing the channel.

"It's okay," Lilly got up from the couch and proceeded to walk out, "No one ever does," she muttered before leaving the room. Leaving a very dumbfounded Max and Tyson.

"What's wrong with her?" Tyson asked.

"I think it's something to do with Terry. Look Tyson, you watch the game; I'll catch a rerun or something. I'm going to see what's wrong, Lilly isn't usually like this," with that said Max followed the blond girl out of the room. Tyson shrugged and went back to watch the five minute pre-game broadcasts.

Max found Lilly in her room; the door was partially closed, but not locked. Lilly was lying on the bed, her shoulders shaking and if he strained his ears he could hear her crying. He felt the sorrow in the room so strongly; he swore it was almost tangible. Deciding to approach Max stepped into the room. Lilly's sobs grew louder as he neared the bed, but they almost went silent as he sat down beside her, causing the spring mattress to shift under his weight.

"What's wrong Lilly, tell me," he whispered.

"It's… it's nothing Max," Lilly sat up, wiping tears away from her eyes. But her cheeks still glistered from the moisture of tears.

"Then why cry?" Max continued in a soft tone, he put his hands on hers, gently tugging them away from her face, the woman looked up at him and he could see all the sorrow in her eyes, it wretched his heart to see someone like her cry so bitterly, it was unbecoming.

"I'm… I," Lilly couldn't speak; her words were dying in her throat before she could form them. Max scooted closer and brought an arm around her waist, pulling her close so that her head rested on his shoulder.

"It's Terry, isn't it?" he spoke quietly, comfortingly. The girl only nodded meekly in his arms, "I don't know how it is to lose a brother Lilly. But I think I know how sad you are, losing family is never a good thing. But you have to realize… he's not dead, not anymore. He just has amnesia, his memory will come back… don't worry Lilly," Max spoke. He dared not move a muscle, allowing Lilly to use him as a support pillar, should she need to, yet not holding her tightly enough, allowing her to move away should she want to.

"I though he was dead Max. I was almost ready to believe he was," Lilly finally began, holding back the sobs. "But to see him, working for the enemy… ready to kill any one of you, it was… terrifying. And then Bryan… had it not been for his armor, he'd be dead. If those bullets hit only five inches higher, he'd be dead. Why did he have to risk his life to save mine?" Lilly choked out the last sentence as another wave of sobs raked her frame. Max only pulled her tighter to him and nuzzled her hair comfortingly.

"That's what he does Lilly, he's a SWAT agent, they always risk their lives to save others. And he's not hurt, you saw him. Lilly, had he not blocked those two shots, you'd be dead. None of us could take it; your friends would be upset… _I_ would be upset," Max spoke. Lilly sighed in his arms and nuzzled into the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

"You're a saint Max," she whispered.

"No, I'm just… helping a friend. Helping friends when they need it is not being a saint," Max replied. The girl meanwhile calmed down more in his arms. He could feel the tension leaving her body, and knowing that he helped alleviate some of her pain was almost as good as knowing that she would be all right. "Don't worry Lilly," he whispered almost silently, "None of us will let anything happen to you… _I_ wont let anything happen to you," he almost cooed into her ear. Max held her there in silence, until the girl dozed off, tired from shedding tears. He laid her back on the bed before covering her with a plaid fleece blanket he found resting on a Rubbermaid bin on the other side of the bed. "Rest well Lilly," he whispered before leaving the room, silently closing the door behind himself.

Max made his way back to the living room, not particularly interested in the Lakers game Tyson was watching. "Hey Max, so how is she?" Tyson asked.

"Alright, a little upset about Terry, but alright," Max replied.

"Poor Lilly, I bet she feels terrible knowing that her brother in now a criminal, and what more doesn't even remember her," Tyson muttered, not taking his eyes off the game. Max didn't speak, just slumped on the couch and sighed mutely.

"She'll be fine," a voice spoke. Both looked up seeing Charly. "I know how she is and she'll be fine," she elaborated, sitting down next to Max. "Now do you mind to turn it up a little, I want to see this game too," she added. Tyson shrugged and turned up the volume. Max meanwhile was too deep in though to focus on the game.

Meanwhile out at the docks. The Oceanis was docked and Terry found himself brooding along the docks. His mind was still straying to the vision that kept flashing through his mind, Connor practically gave him a day off because he was planning something and didn't need anyone around. 'I have to find out what I can't remember, but how?' he asked himself.

"Terry! Wait for me!" a voice called behind him. Terry turned, seeing Sarah jogging to catch up with him, Terry froze and evaluated all escape routes.

"Sarah," he spoke, somewhat unenthusiastically, not that Sarah noticed.

"What's wrong hon?" Sarah wondered, winding her arms around one his, leaning in close.

"It's… nothing," Terry replied, trying not to twitch, and resisting the urge to pry the woman off, she was pushy and he hated pushy people.

"It's not nothing Terry, I can see trouble into those pretty blue eyes of yours," Sarah replied. Terry looked down on her and sighed.

"So alright, maybe I am a little edgy. It's just that… you know, Connor saved my life practically, and I owe him a few things. But now, the fact that there are some things I cant remember about myself, they are bothering me more than before. I want to remember, but whenever I try, I get this pain in my head," he droned off.

"Maybe you should look for your family, there are bound to be missing persons reports filed with the cops at around the time Connor found you," Sarah suggested. Terry glanced at her and almost smirked, for once there was something that Sarah said that he could actually find useful.

"I'll do that," Terry spoke.

"Good, now maybe you can relax a little," Sarah chuckled and let go of him. "I'll let you think things through," with that said the woman turned around and walked off.

Terry watched her go solemnly; he knew that on some level, Sarah was right. There was someone who could've filed a missing persons report on him. A sister. With a start he realized that he could remember, he did have a sister at some point. He couldn't see her face in his mind; it was blurry, just out of focus. But he knew he had a sister. "I have to find out… I will find out," he vowed and looked out at the ocean.

**_Author Notes:_**_ This chapter has been in the works for a while. I kinda had a motivation leak in the middle there. But I finished it._


	35. Little Things

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ More writers block, this chapter is really a filler. Tying up some loose ends and unraveling some more. T/V fans will rejoice after this chapter. I been overly spoiling you guys, but hey… it's about time._

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**_Chapter #35:_**_ Little Things_

Two days passed. Things were mellow and to some extend, even boring. The group was settling nicely to their new gig. The guys got their badges, ID, and it looked like they didn't mind the cop immunity one little bit. The base was a silent one as every did their own little thing.

Vega walked into the garage intent on working on her bike when she spotted the other occupant in the room. And it made her pause for an instant. He had his back turned to her and was hunched over the engine of his Nissan, grumbling angrily, even with the engine stalling she could hear it's asthmatic-like coughs, there was also a grinding sound coming from it. Drawn by curiosity she neared and leaned over his shoulder to look at the engine, "Need help?" she asked. Tala jumped, startled, and tensed. Vega smirked at that but didn't move she was rather enjoying making Tala's life utterly miserable. Though she'd be avoiding him ever since that evening she saw him in the hallway, but one does not waste a golden opportunity like this.

"I don't want, or need your help," the red-haired man replied. Truth of the matter was, he could use her help, but he'd be damned to admit that to her. But the woman continued to hover over his shoulder, he could feel her breath on the side of his neck, not that it was an unpleasant sensation, on the contrary, but it was also distracting.

"Hmmm…" Vega ignored his words completely. "It might be your spark plugs, they are usually the culprits behind any asthmatic coughs in an engine. But it can also be oil, when was the last time you changed that?" Vega spoke.

"Last week," Tala grumbled, he hated it, it was clear Vega would not leave until she had this engine working perfectly.

"Well alright," Vega moved away from him in order to inspect the engine closer. "Do you mind to turn off the engine?" she wondered. Tala grumbled and reached inside the driver side, the engine went dead a second later. The woman leaned in close to inspect the engine, "Got to hand it to you, this is a clean engine," she moved away from the car and walked to the metal closet that stood in the corner, pulling out a set of keys she opened the doors and pulled out her tool box.

She approached the car and opened the toolbox, putting it on the hood of Kenny's Avalanche that stood next to the Nissan, figuring Kenny would be the least one to mind her using his car as a table. Pulling out a rod she approached the oil cap of the Nissan. Unscrewing it casually she dipped the stick inside, and pulled it out a second later, the oil was only up to half the marked 'safe zone' of the rod. "You said you checked the oil," Vega spoke, "Well Tala, I believe this patient has internal bleeding," Vega diagnosed.

"How the hell could've that happened?" Tala wondered out loud, Vega shrugged and pulled out a flashlight, inspecting the engine closely with the aid of the additional light.

"Aha! Here's the problem," Vega spoke, poking the line running between the oil tank and the engine, "Looks like it's been punctured by a screw driver, the bleeding is slow, but over a week I see how you could've lost half the tank, it's also a fact that if the tank is half full, the car starts to cough," she added. Tala grumbled but remained quiet. "You're in luck, I can repair this problem," with that said Vega moved back to the metal closet. Tala just shook his head; the woman was treating the car as if it was alive.

Half an hour later, the car was on four jacks, raised three full feet off the ground. Vega was on her back, under the car, lying on a wheeled trolley. With a final grunt she slid out, holding a pan full of oil and a wrench, "Okay… old oil drained. Now… Shell or Castrol?" she asked. Tala looked down and almost smiled, the woman had oil smears on her face, and her hair was a mess, but otherwise she looked like she was enjoying herself immensely.

"You have both?" Tala asked.

"Yea, the Celica's engine is more high performance than the rest of us, only the best for that precious baby. So Charly only feeds it Shell, while the rest of us use Castrol," Vega explained.

"Castrol will do, I don't see the difference between the two of them anyways," Tala replied.

"Be a dear and grab it from the closet there, I hate changing oil on cars, tiring," Vega replied. Getting up, wiping her hands on a rag, she could only say that Tala definitely had the mechanics grip, he tightened the bolts as far as they would go, she had actually struggled with them. But he'd be damned if he knew that she struggled with them, Tala returned with the large plastic canister of Castrol oil, already unscrewing the top of it.

"Go rest Vega, I can take it from here, and thanks," he spoke.

Vega smirked, "You're welcome," she packed up her tools and moved to return them to the closet.

When she turned back a minute or two later she found herself standing back against the metal doors of the closet, Tala was standing in front of her, head lowered so he could look into her eyes. "What now?" she asked; her heart began to hammer, he was way too close, definitely in her private space.

"There is this one little matter left, you've been avoiding me for the last couple days," he spoke, raising his hands he put them on the metal doors on either side of her head, effectively pinning her in place between the wall and himself.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, I haven't been avoiding anyone," Vega replied.

"Alright… you haven't been avoiding me, and I'm the pope of Rome," Tala replied. The corner of his lips twitched upwards in almost a smile and Vega almost gulped. He really did have a sexy smile.

"Alright, whatever… What is this all about? You're not exactly the first person I want to have conversation with anyways. What's the big deal?" Vega replied, deciding to go for the offensive.

"Vega," he began taking a deep breath, "I know when I'm being avoided. God knows half the neighborhood does it. What it is about, is that you've been avoiding me since that evening." He spoke, leaning closer. Alarm bells began blaring in Vegas head again, she began to think up of all possible ways to avoid this confrontation. "One more thing Vega, you didn't have to hover over my shoulder to look at that engine, you just did that because you wanted to hover over my shoulder. And don't lie to me, I can see it in your eyes." One of his hands slid down the smooth surface of the metal door and Vega soon found it on her waist, his other hand followed suit.

"I did that to annoy you," she replied bravely, he smirked again, that same sexy devilish smirk he had and Vega began to feel claustrophobic with him around.

"Hmm… how about I 'annoy' you," he replied. The way he said 'annoy' signified that he was joking, Vega opened her mouth to retort but couldn't because a second later she found herself kissing the red-haired thug. And he wasn't taking any light kisses, Vega closed her eyes, her hands rose to wrap themselves around his neck as she tugged him closer to her, bringing his body flush against hers, his kiss only grew more passionate. He pressed her into the metal of the closet, loving the feeling of her kiss; her hands began to roam across his back and shoulders. A second later he pulled back and Vega opened her eyes. She found herself looking up at Tala, his ice blue eyes were glazed with something that looked like lust, but what scared Vega the most is that she knew hers were probably no different.

"Feel free to 'annoy' some more," the words tumbled coyly out of her mouth before she could stop them, and Tala smirked, removing his hands from her waist, reaching up to unwind hers from around his neck.

"Don't mind if I do, but… not here, and now, I'll take you up on that offer a little later," he held her hands for a second before letting go and walking away. Satisfied, and more than proud of himself.

Vega watched him go and licked her lips; it finally sank in what happened and the implication of his words. There would be more; it terrified to realize her that she could hardly wait.

Meanwhile, Charly was up in her room, sitting at her desk, reading through a long list of names. It was the guest list of a charity gala that she was going to attend with the rest of the girls. Except this year, the mayor and his family were on the list, and Patterson actually 'requested' their full attendance to the even. She sighed. A knock on the door alerted her to a visitor, "Come in," she spoke quietly, putting down the papers. The door opened slowly and Charly looked up, fully expecting Vega or one of the girls. The surprise was pleasant never the less.

"Oh hey Kai, come in, don't mind the mess, I'm still to fully unpack," she got up from her seat, moving to gather things from around the room. Glancing at the bed where she would normally dump the things she frowned, her nylon covered dress was lying on it, fresh from the dry-cleaners, she didn't have time to put it away when the list came in by email.

"What are you doing in here, I haven't seen you since breakfast, and it's two pm," he asked.

"Oh… stuff, you know. You know about the gala the girls and me will be attending. Well, this year the mayor will be there, so everyone who is anyone will be there. Leonard wants some men on the inside, he'll be there too, since we were going to come anyways, he assigned us to be there to see how things go," Charly explained.

"Sounds like fun," Kai closed the door behind himself and stood with his back to it.

"A lot of fun, more fun than an amusement park on a sunny summer day," Charly replied sarcastically, causing the man to grin.

"So what does one have to do to attend?" Kai wondered.

"It's stiff dress Kai, cocktail dresses and tuxedos. No GT's in the parking lot, only snow-white shiny limos," Charly replied, "If you can get a tux by tomorrow at seven, I think I can sneak you in, if you wonna come." Kai frowned a little but it didn't seem to last long.

"Alright, I better go find that tux then. I always wanted to see how these formal things went, might be actually… interesting," Kai replied.

"About as interesting as a lecture from my old Philosophy teacher, but yea… maybe. Kai you don't have to come, we girls can handle it," she approached, a few steps.

"It's Friday night and I have nothing better to do, I figure I get to know some people who are on the right side of the law. Now that we're FBI, that might come in handy. Well… I better go hunt down a tux rental then," he moved to open the door and walk out.

"You're welcome Kai," she replied. The man shrugged and walked out of the room without saying anything more. Charly blushed after the door closed. "I can't believe he saw this mess!" she spoke out loud to herself. "This is so humiliating," hanging her head low Charly proceeded with clean up.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Somewhat short and plotless, but it is building towards the next arc to the story. And I bet you guys liked that bit of T/V. More to come so stick around! And please… please… please review!_


	36. Gallant Nightmares Part 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ This chapter is the prelude to the next story arc of the fic. Things are getting warmed up again. Some mush, and all around cuteness._

**__**

**_Chapter #36:_**_ Gallant Nightmares [Part 1]_

It was the next evening that Hollywood was abuzz. The annual high society gala was just an hour away from start and people were already gathering. Among them was Connor and Sarah, the two managed to buy their way into the gala. Terry was there along with them. Both men were clad in ink black tuxedos. Sarah was wearing an elegant pearl colored gown and matching high heel stilettos. The gown was strapless and seemed to fold on itself, and it had a modest trail, white at the front it was lifted, allowing the woman to walk comfortably. Around the woman's neck was a matching scarf that was made of the same material as the dress. Terry looked perhaps most uncomfortable being there.

"Connor, the men are in position," Terry reported, removing something that looked like a head set off his ear.

"Good," Connor spoke. "Tonight will be the night to remember," he added calmly. "The mayor will certainly remember it, for the rest of his life, this town belongs to me," a smile formed on his features, and Terry got a chill down his spine. It was the first time, one of Connor's plans actually bothered him like this did.

There were too many innocents, too many people could get hurt, and the possibilities for something to go wrong were limitless. And Murphy's Law stated that everything that can go wrong probably would go wrong. It had gone wrong from the day they arrived in L.A.

Meanwhile, on the other side of LA, a pitch-black limousine pulled up next to the building. The rearmost passenger door opened slightly and the car gave a short burst of its horn, announcing its arrival.

Inside by the front door was Vega; she was clad in a sheer Prussian blue gown that had only thin straps supporting a modest neckline, while leaving the back exposed. Sheer trails of material that hung over the shoulders, nearly reaching the floor hid the shoulder straps from view. The dress was so long that it had to be gathered up to walk in it. Vega seemed nervous and fidgety, she hated wearing gowns, but she couldn't escape it this time.

"I see the Limo arrived," Charly approached, Vega nodded, looking at he friend. The brunette was clad in a simple black floor-length halter-topped dress; she had what looked like crystal-studded chokers hiding the clasp of the halter. The dress fully revealed her back, and on her elbows also hung a matching black satin sash.

"Where are the rest of the girls?" Vega asked.

"They'll be down in a second," Charly replied. "I'm going to have an earful from Patterson about budget once he sees these dresses," the woman added jokingly.

"What was that honk?" a voice asked. Charly turned around, as Kai stepped into the room, wearing a black tuxedo; he was fiddling with his bowtie, trying to tie it straight on, and obviously failing, not being too experienced with the whole thing.

"The limo arrived," Vega replied as she noticed her two friends go into a trance, staring at each other. "Are any of the other guys coming?" Vega asked next, it was then both snapped out of their trance, Charly turned away and Vega grinned slightly.

"I think Rei is, he saw me return in the morning with this tux and he asked where I rented it," Kai replied, finally having tied his bow tie straight, he adjusted the lapels of his jacket.

"Did I hear someone mention my name?" Rei appeared; he was ready to go, clad in a beautiful white tuxedo. It looked like it gleamed in the light. It also contrasted with his hair and eyes creating a stunning visage.

"Alright… let's – whoa," Hikaru, Takara and Lilly appeared in the doorway. Hikaru froze dead upon seeing Kai and Rei. The Japanese girl was clad in a beautiful blood crimson gown that had a low back and straps that reached from the sides of the bodice, and rounded her neck. Ornate beads, causing it to glimmer, also decorated the bodice. The beads were laid out in swirling patterns, almost looking like the feather patterns of a peacock.

Next to her was Takara; the girl was clad in a stunning royal blue dress that looked like a low-back halter-top gown. But the top of the bodice split, going around her neck in two lines, it was also darker than the rest of the dress, going a deep blue in a gentle gradual transition. The bodice was also covered in glittering beads.

Last but not least was Lilly, who was clad in a gorgeous sky blue gown that seemed to look almost Greek in style. It was tight and strapless; resting on the hips was a sash, joined by a rosette, the ends of the sash hung down nearly to the floor. At the top left hem was another rosette from which a trail of translucent material fell over her left shoulder.

"Lets go then, the gala is starting in fifty minutes," Charly spoke. Rei moved and opened the front door, holding it open.

"Ladies first," he spoke. The girls chuckled and walked past him. The group climbed inside the limousine.

"Surprise, surprise," a voice spoke. The girls looked up. There at the far end of the impossibly long car was Tala, clad in a black tux, he was grinning like a devil. His eyes traveled to Vega and the grin widened. Next to him was Kenny, also dressed in a tux, looking utterly uncomfortable.

"Any more surprises you guys have for us?" Takara asked.

"Tyson and Max will be waiting for us at the Gala site. They had trouble with their rentals," Kenny spoke calmly.

The limousine arrived at the gala hall less than forty minutes later. The front entrance was lit up like a giant light bulb as limousines approached it one by one. Guests made it inside or a red carpet from their posh cars, cameras were flashing and the atmosphere felt like the Oscars.

"We go by the side door, not to draw enough attention," Charly explained why our driver didn't pull the limo into the line up of limousines waiting to get to the red carpet line.

"I prefer it that way," Kai spoke. The limousine stopped and the doors opened, in the parking lot they immediately spotted the BMW belonging to Max. Among limousines, the smaller car stuck out like a sore thumb. The group got out, adjusting their attires.

"Hey guys," Max and Tyson approached, "You girls look good," Max added, eyeing Lilly in particular, causing the blond girl to tint pink.

"Thank Max," Hikaru spoke for all of them.

"Lets get this hell over and done with," Tala suddenly spoke. The group moved to the side door which was guarded by two burly guys dressed in full black, arms behind their backs, headsets in their ears, FBI badges shining bright, pinned on their breast pockets.

The music inside was mellow Jazz, and the grand hall was crowded with mingling guests, tuxedos and cocktail gowns wherever you looked. "I wonder where they hid the collection box this year," Charly commented, in her hands she held a piece of paper that looked like a check.

"I think it's over there," Tyson spoke, pointing to the far end of the ballroom.

"Yea… there it is," Vega added. Charly smirked and proceeded to walk across the room to deposit the check.

"Look guys, there's the mayor and his wife, and their son," Hikaru spoke, indeed, three people stepped into the room. The mayor was an elderly man dressed in an expensive designer tux. Next to him was his wife, a petite woman in a modest evening gown. Behind them was their oldest son, the most eligible bachelor of LA high society, looking like a younger version of his father.

"There's the mayor," Connor spoke, eyeing the elderly man scornfully.

"And there are those FBI agents, just like you predicted Connor," Sarah added.

"I'll be taking my leave now," Terry added, his eyes immediately traveled to the petite blond standing among the group of four women, he had to admit she looked like a princess in her gown. He almost frowned when a blond man moved to take her elbow, discarding the scorn he took a few steps back and melted into the darkness of the shadows.

"Terry," Connor turned to the shadows where he knew Terry was still present, invisible, but there. "When the mayor delivers his annual speech, tell the sniper to shoot him dead," he added.

"Yes sir," Terry replied, and it was then he vanished, a fleeting shadow in the darkness, like a stalking panther.

"I wish those FBI didn't show up, I wanted to dance with Terry," Sarah spoke. Connor glanced at her and smiled.

"I would've preferred if they didn't show up either, but there is nothing that can be done now. They wont stop this plan. It's far too perfect; all it'll take is one bullet. And in the chaos, we'll be walking away free."

"Lilly," Max approached, "Would you like to dance with me?" he asked. Lilly looked away for a second and blushed. A second later she turned back to Max and nodded, he took her by the elbow and lead her out on the dance floor. Charly came back and stood by the rest of the girls; she smiled as she saw Lilly and Max.

"Is it just me or are those two seriously have some things in common?" Takara asked.

"No it's not just you, it's good that she has at least someone, with things as they are now. She needs an anchor chain," Vega replied.

"Are you girls going to stand here all night and chit-chat?" Tyson asked.

"Yep, that happens to be the plan. You know, they say you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Well, you can make us attend a gala, but you can't make us mingle. Besides… half the guys here are stuck-up snobs, stuck up rich snobs," Takara spoke.

"That's hardly fun," Rei added.

"I'm off to the buffet table," Hikaru beat a hasty retreat, Tyson followed, a little too eagerly.

"Hey wait!" Takara moved to follow her, leaving Charly and Vega alone with Rei, Kai, Tala, and Kenny.

"This is the part we usually bail on, our limit is twenty minutes," Charly spoke.

"Seems like a waste to get all dressed up for nothing," Rei continued. The two women flashed him a glare. The black-haired youth just flashed them a heart-warming, if somewhat forced smile. Turning he left, deciding that it wasn't going to work from this end.

"Those two have a mind set of not having fun tonight," Rei spoke to Kenny.

"Their prerogative," Kai put in before Kenny could reply. Rei leaned on a column in the room, putting his hands in the pockets of his tux jacket.

"I think I'll go enjoy some of the refreshments myself," Kenny walked to the snack tables as soon as he noticed that Tyson's lack of manners, table or otherwise, was beginning to show, such a show would attract more attention than they needed.

"The mayor is only here until he delivers his speech, after that we can leave. He is scheduled to deliver the speech in an hour," Kai added.

"I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic in this tux," Tala added. "All this so called high society is not my thing." The party continued around them, and the dance floor was now full with dancing couples of various ages. "Ah shit… look, its the mayor's kid, and he has a media trail." Tala spoke, Kai looked over where his friend was looking, indeed the mayor's son was approaching the group, and behind him were at least three reporters, and one nosy camera.

"We meet again Charlene," the man spoke.

"Hello, Richard." Charly replied, eyeing the camera scornfully. Richard was the mayor's son, a rather handsome man who was perhaps only an inch higher than Charly, when she wasn't wearing heels. He had reddish brown, neatly combed hair, and brilliant sapphire eyes. The poster child for the glamour world, and he wasn't exactly as snooty as someone of this position might have been.

"I would've expected you'd left by now, I seen you deposit that check. Lovely as ever," Richard continued. Charly felt oddly pinned standing there before the cameras; usually she enjoyed the banter with Richard. She had the misfortune to bump into him two years ago at this gala, and he sought her out every year she came, for however brief a time he could 'spare'.

"I have a reason to being here Richard, and do you mind. I hate cameras," Charly replied.

"Of course," Richard turned to the reporters, who took a clue and dispersed. Richard wasn't aware of the suddenly venomous glares Kai was shooting at him from some distance away. Deciding to approach he moved to Charly's side.

"Charly you didn't tell me you knew the mayor's son," he spoke in a warm tone. Richard looked up, spotting the taller man. Kai stood at least four inches taller than him, and he wasn't standing at his full proud stature even.

"He's an acquaintance, I had the fortune of bumping into him here two years ago. He had to get the wine stains out of his shirt after wards, but…" Charly explained.

"It was nothing," Richard interrupted extending his hand out to Kai, "Richard Bailey, pleasure to meet you."

Kai reluctantly clasped his hand, "Kai Hiwatari," he murmured, somewhat neutrally.

"Charlene you didn't tell me you had company this year," Richard continued. "I do hope you'll grace me with at least one little dance, before you make you Cinderella exit."

Vega was watching Richard scornfully as she shifted closer to Kai, "Better get her away from Richard while you can," she whispered, before walking away from the two of them.

"Sorry Richard, I don't particularly feel like dancing, maybe later, after your father makes his speech," Charly replied, knowing full well she wouldn't be here after that. The mayor and his wife never stuck around longer than an hour, it was Richard who was the life of the party.

"Alright," Richard stepped back, "I'll see you then." With that said he walked away and Charly heaved a sigh.

"I thought that he wouldn't leave, nice guy… but not my cup of coffee," the brunette explained, she could feel Kai was watching her closely, and it made her fidget.

"Vega?" a voice asked. The black-haired woman turned, seeing Tala standing there.

"What?" she asked.

"How about a dance?" he asked. That surprised the mechanic but she nodded.

"Can you even dance?" she asked.

"Better than you I bet," Tala replied as he crooked his elbow, allowing the woman to slip her arm in as he led her to the dance floor.

"Doubtable," Vega said with a smile as the two began to dance.

**Author Note:** A little more M/L closing with slight hinting of K/C and T/V. Next chappy will have more action. And you can quote me on that. If you want pictures of the dresses the girls wear, tell me and leave an email address. If it's hotmail you need one megabyte of space on your account. That's pretty much it.

On a further note, **Silverjustice**, I appreciate your reviews. Really I do. But I would like to point out that this story is set in a theme of the modern gang-central, and not all dialogue will be perfectly grammatically correct. People who live in those parts of town don't use proper grammar.


	37. Gallant Nightmares Part 2

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 37, done sooner than I thought. It only took me 24 hours. But I love writing solely or nearly all action chapters. One more character from the show makes an appearance towards the end._

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**_Chapter #37:_**_ Gallant Nightmares [Part 2]_

And hour passed, Max and Lilly spend it dancing and talking. Kenny somehow got into a political argument with some of the older gentlemen, and was enjoying himself immensely. Tyson has effectively raided the buffet, and was now too full to move too much. Tala and Vega were now in a rather heated argument over one thing or another. Hikaru and Takara were just mingling around, talking to whoever talked to them. Charly was standing at the side, holding a crystal flute of champagne in her hands. Kai was standing by her side, looking more bored by the minute.

"Another ten minutes until the speech," Charly spoke. Kai looked at her calmly.

"Still eager to leave?" He asked. The brunette nodded and took a sip of her champagne.

The music began to quiet down and the crowd of dancing people separated, as everyone gathered in front of the stage. The mayor and his wife stepped on the stage, flanked by one or two bodyguards. Richard was there too.

"Ladies and Gentlemen and members of the press," The mayor began, "Thank you for coming to this years charity gala," clapping interrupted the man's words but he raised one hand to quiet the crowd, "As you know, my election promise was to make Los Angeles one of the best cities in the country. One of the safest cities in this country. That is not the goal of one man alone, it should be the goal of all citizens of Los Angeles. But I feel it is my duty to set this plan in motion. So this year, I would like to announce one aspect of my administration's budget plans. I intend to see to, that over the next two years, Los Angeles police department will receive two billion dollars in funding. I vow to make Los Angeles one of the best, and safest cities in our country," at that clapping rose up thunderously into the air.

The crack of a single gunshot, followed by a scream turned the clapping into panic-filled murmur and then sheer panic as the mayor collapsed, a bullet wound over his heart.

"What the hell," Charly looked around them, it was then cops and FBI flooded in. One was already on a radio calling for paramedics.

"Up there!" Rei called, pointing up at the rafters, he saw a shadow jump down unto the second level balcony and vanish to the stairs.

"The FBI will get him, he wont escape, this place will be sealed tighter than Fort Knox in a matter of seconds," Vega spoke.

"We still have to see what's happening," Hikaru moved to the stage, to see how badly the mayor was wounded. His wife looked utterly stricken with panic. And Richard was chewing out his father's bodyguards.

By the door, the assassin appeared from the stairs to the upper level and balconies, police were instantly on him. But the crafty thief grabbed the first person he could reach, pulling the woman in front of him, putting a silver gun to her temple; the doors behind, which were about ten feet away from him, were closed.

"Open these doors, or the hostage gets it," he spoke.

"Let her go," one police officer replied. The woman squeaked as she felt the gun press harder into her temple.

Rei watched this from the sidelines and ground his teeth, the cops weren't going to do anything to stop this man, and he didn't want to see any more casualties, one was one too many already. Reaching into his tux jacket he withdrew his gun and new FBI ID. Moving to intercept the situation. Moving into the shadows he moved behind the man, the woman noticed him move but didn't make a sound; she knew he was there to help.

"I think the officer told you, let the lady go," Rei spoke, putting his gun to the man's head, he made sure the man heard the bullet slide into the barrel. The police officers still held their guns high as the assassin dropped his gun, it cluttered soundlessly on the carpet. The police officers lowered theirs. In a flash the assassin turned around, pushing the woman into Rei's arms, Rei caught her just as the perpetrator made a bolt for the door, which was now locked, but it didn't stop him from raising his arms to shield his face and plowing through the glass, causing it to shatter. The man rose to his feet and ran.

"Oh no you don't!" Rei stretched out his arm and let loose two bullets, both hit the assassin, one in each leg, causing him to stumble and fall head-first down the red-carpeted steps to street level, where he didn't move again, out cold. The woman in Rei's arms whimpered. "You okay?" he asked, tucking his gun back in his jacket clumsily. The woman nodded and looked up at him.

It was then Rei got a good look at her. She was somewhat shorter than him, dressed in a black dress that hung on her shoulders, revealing just her shoulders, a modest look. At the center of the bodice at the front were a crystal rosette, and a strap that rounded the woman's neck, supporting the dress up. What surprised him the most was that her eyes were golden, and her hair, a shade of pink.

The paramedics arrived, and one of the FBI agents motioned them to ignore the unconscious, but not fatally wounded assassin. Making them move to get the Mayor.

"How did you get a gun inside? Tha's ille-" one police officer asked Rei, before he could even finish Rei pulled out his ID and flashed the FBI badge, causing the police officer to quiet down.

"I'm FBI," Rei spoke smugly, he was enjoying this part, he had the power to overrule any cop he wished. The police officers left to get the assassin while the woman in Rei's arms moved out of his embrace if somewhat shakily.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Name's Rei," he replied. The woman nodded. She extended her hand out to him in a friendly gesture.

"Mariah, CNN special reporter," Rei's gut hit rock bottom.

'Damn! A damn CNN reporter!' he spoke to himself. Numbly he took her hand and shook it.

"Thank you for saving me," Mariah continued.

"It was nothing," Rei replied.

"Rei is everything okay?" Charly approached, Mariah could see the FBI badge in her hands, making her wonder just how many FBI agents there were in this place.

"Yea, how's the mayor?" he asked, deciding not to tell Charly that Mariah was CNN, he didn't see a camera anywhere around, so even if she mentioned names, it wouldn't particularly matter.

"The bullet apparently just missed his heart, I'd summarize critical, but not dead," Charly replied, "Who's this?"

"I'm Mariah, CNN," the woman replied before Rei could stop her, he flinched, and Charly caught unto to that.

"Alright, we need to have a conversation with you. About some things," Charly spoke. The doors were now fully opened and people began to file out. The group re-assembled, now being forced to leave last. Charly caught unto the pained expression on Richard's face as he watched the ambulance carrying his father drive off. "Vega, can you explain to Mariah about our situation, I need to have a word with Richard," with that said the brunette proceeded to walk carefully towards the man. Vega mean while turned to Mariah.

"You can't tell anyone what happened here," were the first words out of her mouth.

"Why not?" Mariah glanced at her watch, it was only nine pm, early enough for this story to make it on the eleven o'clock news.

"We can't allow this story to make it to the news across the country," Vega explained.

"Alright, my boss inset going to like it though," Mariah folded her arms around her, she oddly felt cold at the moment. "There is something else," she added.

"What?" Vega wondered.

"That man… that man Rei shot. I saw him earlier tonight. He was talking to some other man, and… had I know he was planning something. Oh my god, maybe if I paid more attention, this wouldn't have happened," Mariah spoke. All attention was instantly riveted to the pink-haired reporter.

"Can you describe this other man?" Hikaru asked. Mariah only nodded, drawing her arms tighter around herself, she was shivering now, probably not because of the cold, because the evening was quite balmy, but because of fright, and shock. Rei shed his jacket and placed it carefully on her shoulders, offering whatever help he could. Mariah looked up.

"Well…" she began. "He was a bit taller than," she paused looking around the guys, "Him," she pointed her finger at Kai, "Six foot three, maybe four, I don't know exactly. Light blond hair, and blue eyes. He looked really innocent, and somewhat worried. I didn't pay attention at the time, but now I do remember he had a headset in his ear. He was dressed in a black tux, I thought he might have been security," Mariah finished.

"Tell me," Lilly spoke shakily, "was his hair short cropped, and did you notice anything in particular about him?" Mariah only shivered.

"Yes, he did have short hair, and… I don't know, I didn't really pay attention at the time," Mariah whispered.

"Oh no… it was Terry," Lilly paled.

"This is no good, she seen way too much, I have a feeling that we're going to have to put her on Witness Protection," Vega spoke up.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked.

"My suggestion if I may," Kenny voiced, "Mariah… This story wont be an exclusive, so you aren't losing much. For the time being, call your boss and tell him about your situation. There is one little about this whole thing, that you shouldn't have seen or known, that is why you cant report this story," Kenny reasoned.

"And what's that? I might as well as find out everything since I'm already in too deep, might actually make sense. Cause the rest of this sure doesn't!" Mariah replied.

"You shouldn't have seen us," Kai replied neutrally.

"Oh so now you're MIB? What are you going to pull next? A neurolizer and wipe my memory?" it was clear to see that Mariah wasn't buying this whole thing, she was not giving up on her rights to such a juicy story. It was then Charly retured, Richard having left in his limo before she could get a word with him, it was better in some way, she didn't want to face him, she was FBI, she should've prevented this, but she didn't. And she felt like the blame was partially hers. "I'm calling Patterson," she spoke, moving past the group to the pay phone nearby.

Barely fifteen minutes later, Patterson arrived with an entourage of some higher-ranking FBI people.

"Deamen! We're going to have a talk once I straighten things out with the media here, I have a bone to pick with you!" was the first thing he said, causing Charly to groan, she was in for it now, the building migraine in her temple escalated from a throb to a jackhammer pounding away at her nerves. "Now what is this I hear about a stubborn CNN reporter," he added. The group allowed Leonard to see Mariah, his eyes narrowed in recognition.

"Okay I need to have a word with her, alone," Leonard moved towards the woman, and motioned her aside, Rei followed behind at a safe out of shot distance, the woman still had his tux jacket, and it was a rental.

"I am screwed," Charly muttered.

"It's alright Charly, just explained to him what happened," Tyson volunteered.

"I agree with him," Tala added, he had remained oddly silent about the whole thing, as if the fact that the mayor got sniped, and that their cover was possibly blown, didn't bother him at all.

Some distance away Mariah and Leonard were talking. A look of realization crossed over her features. 

"I see… and I understand," she spoke, "But now I know even more."

"Sadly miss, that could not have been avoided, I'm afraid you're going to have to see witness protection, if that man recalls anything, you could be in danger. It is only for a few weeks, and I'm sure CNN can give you a paid leave of absence due to circumstances," Leonard spoke.

"I will be loosing a lot of good material," Mariah retorted.

"You will have the exclusive when we finally get that guy," Leonard bargained. Deciding to bait at the reporter, there was nothing that reporters loved more than a juicy exclusive, and this was story of the year type of juicy. Mariah looked down, seemingly in thought.

"Alright, fine… but I will need to get some material to make this exclusive good. And what about this witness protection, any specific arrangements?" she asked. Leonard Patterson smiled and his triumph, he expected far worse from the best reporter on the CNN network, but as he found out, the woman was pretty sensible once you explained things to her.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Okay so practically all action. And yep… there's Mariah for all you Rei/Mariah fanatics. I think her personality fits excellently into a role as a CNN reporter. Next chapter more will be revealed._


	38. From Bad, To Worse

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Finally! Chapter 38. I had a little bit of a problem working it out. But it's finally done!_

**__**

**_Chapter #38:_**_ From Bad, To Worse_

It was the next day as Leonard Patterson was working in his office. The bureau was in uproar; the mayor was in a critical but stable condition in the hospital. The assassin was in a semi-comatose state after his stair tumble. In his hands Leonard was holding papers from the district CIA office. The big people weren't happy about all of this; they had a reason not to be happy. They would be even less happy if they knew the man who sent the assassin to the hospital in a comatose state, used a gun that wasn't even registered, undoubtedly stolen. And to top things off to a nice awful package, he still had to talk to employer of the CNN reporter about protective custody.

Truth be told, the woman was in no immediate custody-requiring danger. She just knew too much. And what more he couldn't assign some dispensable rookie to guard her, she was obviously too smart for that. Just by talking to her Patterson knew the woman would catch on to the lie there and find a way to leak the sensitive data out to CNN somehow. By conventional express mail if she had to. Leonard was sure her employer wouldn't mind the hassle of that once he realized he had a woman on the inside, a woman who could find out all the exclusive, explosive details on the whole thing.

The intercom on his table suddenly buzzed and Leonard sighed, reaching over, pushing the activation button. "Good morning sir," the secretary spoke, it was her customary first page of the day, "There are four CIA deputies here to see you. They have a document from the head office," the woman added as if nothing was wrong and visits from CIA deputies were common occurrences.

"Send them in," Leonard spoke, he didn't want to talk to anyone, especially not CIA, but they couldn't be avoided. The door opened and four people stepped in, Leonard was surprised that these CIA deputies weren't older. They looked twenty at most. Making him wonder how they get so high-ranked so fast. Each wore a black business suit with their CIA cards pinned on the breast pocket. Leonard realized why there was such a silence in the space outside for the last ten minutes or so; people were doing their jobs silently as soon as the CIA showed up. The four of them seemed to be an odd group, so much Leonard could tell just by looking at them.

The agent in the lead was the tallest, perhaps most serious of the four, he had purple hair and deep brown eyes. And he did not bother to hide his dislike to being here. Next to him was a red head with gray eyes whose attitude and posture seemed to say, 'I'm better than all the people here to put together,'

Behind the two stood a green-haired agent with matching dark green eyes; he seemed to be cool and collected. Yet a little more relaxed than the obvious leaders of the group. The last but not least was a blond with blue eyes, who had a grin the size of Ohio on his face, his eyes seemed to glow with life, and uncustomary look in an CIA agent.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Leonard got up from his seat, deciding to be diplomatic, if it would help to ease the tension, the CIA was mocking him, he could tell, what were they thinking sending four deputies, especially this young, they couldn't have more than two years of experience, if that, under their belts.

"We were told that you were the head of the department that is responsible for last night's fiasco of a gala," the purple-haired agent began, "We were sent to investigate why last night happened as it did, and where the FBI made errors, so that such errors are not repeated again." The look in the man's eyes told Leonard that he was dead serious.

"I am responsible for the department, and I assure you I have my men on a tight leash. I have a very good idea of who is to blame, and I will deal with that myself. There is no reason for the CIA to be involved," Leonard replied. The two men exchanged venomous glares across the oak desk of the office. Leonard then realized these agents didn't consider introducing themselves a common courtesy.

"We mean no disrespect sir," the green-haired man spoke up, "My colleague is correct however. We need to find out what went wrong last night, so it doesn't happen again. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there will be another attempt on the mayor's life."

"It's an obvious oversight on the FBI part, blame them. There should have been CIA overseeing the guard detail," the redhead threw in an arrogant tone. Leonard was ready to give up, it was clear this was going to be an ugly talk, and right now, he was not in the mood to deal with four arrogant CIA agents around who you had to thread carefully, after all, any bad report they filed to their superiors, could and would cost the bureau dearly.

The intercom buzzed suddenly and Leonard had to sit back down to activate it, he was actually glad for the distraction, "What is it?" he asked the secretary in a gruff tone.

"Miss Deamen and Miss McLeod are here to see you as you requested," the secretary replied. This almost made Leonard smile, the girls were usually late, but for once, their tardiness was going to give him quite the show. He knew for a fact that Vega hated arrogant people, CIA or not, she would not control her mouth and let more than one snide remark fly at the agents, Leonard would only have to pretend to be disapproving, while secretly enjoying every nano-second of it.

"Tell them to come in," with that said Leonard disconnected the link as the doors opened.

"Good Morn- oh… We didn't realize you had guests sir," Charly spoke as soon as she noticed the unfamiliar presence in the room.

"These are four deputy _CIA_ agents sent in to oversee," Leonard explained.

"Well isn't that just great, more suit guys," Vega commented quietly.

"With all due respect, what are they doing here? I see no FBI badges," the purple-haired CIA agent interjected. Leonard only grinned.

"I'd like to introduce Charlene Deamen and Vega McLeod, they are my best agents on the field," Leonard replied smugly.

"It's a pleasure ladies," the blond piped up suddenly, "My name is Enrique, and these are my colleagues, Oliver, Robert, and Johnny."

"I'd be lying if I said the meeting was mutually pleasurable," Vega spoke.

"Sir, we just came to drop off the report about… recent events," Charly spoke; deciding to use language carefully, there were some things CIA didn't need to know about. Pulling out a diskette out of her pocket Charly put it on the man's desk, she then glanced up at the CIA agents, Robert was glaring, and the look unnerved her, basically because she couldn't glare right back at him, without this somehow ending up on their report under 'lack of respect for superiors'. 'This is why I dropped out of police academy! Too many damned rules!' she thought to herself.

"We'll be leaving now," Vega spoke, reaching for the door. The two left as quickly as they came.

"They are not just agents, I recognize them. That was Red Fox, from a case the FBI investigated a year or two ago," Robert spoke, turning his scrutiny full on Leonard, "What is going on here?" he asked in a grave tone. Leonard contained a sigh, there was no way to avoid it; he had to explain everything. The situation definitely turned from bad to worse.

It was about later afternoon, Rei drove his Supra into the underground garage of an apartment complex. Just an hour earlier Leonard Patterson called and requested that he'd take the CNN reporter into protective custody. Leonard mentioned that the woman would feel better about this whole thing if someone she knew, even if just a little, came to get her. After all, he saved her life once, so she could trust him a little more. Rei didn't argue with logic there, and to him this was just an inconvenience. The base was dullsville, after Charly and Vega returned bearing bad news that CIA showed up, the place became ghostly silent, even Tyson seemed more edgy than normally.

Getting out of his car he locked it up. And proceeded to the elevator and pushed the call button, digging into his pocket, pulling out a slip of paper on which a floor and apartment number was written. The elevator arrived and he got inside lazily pushing number eighteen on the destination buttons. The ride was short and the subsequent walk up to the apartment door was even shorter, soon he was gently knocking on the door.

The door opened, but it was still on a chain, preventing it's full opened, "Oh hi Rei," Mariah smiled as she saw him.

"I'm here to fulfill duty, I'm sure you know what I mean," Rei replied. The door closed and a second later opened fully.

"Come in, I'll be done in a minute… I just need to wrestle my suitcase shut," Mariah replied. The woman was dressed in a pair of casual light-blue tight jeans and loose white blouse, her pink hair tied back into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. "Don't mind the mess, my life is hectic," Mariah added. The apartment was small, one bedroom with a small den and kitchen.

"You haven't seen a mess until you seen Tyson's room," Rei replied. There was a chuckle coming from the bedroom and Rei dared venture towards there, he could see through the doorway, a duffel bag by the door, and Mariah was wrestling with a suitcase or a medium size, stuffed to the brim. "You really don't need that much stuff you know," he continued, "I'm sure this is only for a two weeks, a month tops."

"I don't want to be an inconvenience to my protector," Mariah replied, "That means I can't go on shopping trips every other day. Now that I have so many free days, I don't know what I'll do with so much free time. Might get started on that book I wanted to write. That reminds me. Rei can you carry that bag there?" Mariah pointed to the small briefcase resting against the closet, "Careful with it. My laptop is inside," she added.

"Sure thing," Rei replied, taking the bag, mindful of its contents. It wasn't heavy, but it was fragile. "And you wont just get one protector," he added. "More like eleven." All struggles with the suitcase stopped as Mariah looked up him with a shocked expression.

"I'm in that much danger?" she asked surprised.

"No," Rei replied with a smile on his face, "Leonard said you can stay with us at our place, this way you wont miss a beat about your exclusive. Our place is where things are happening." He explained. "Here let me help with that suit case," he moved to the stubborn suitcase and firmly, using his strength, pressed down on its hard lid, allowing Mariah to close the six latches.

"Thanks," she spoke, "Okay… just give me one more second," she moved towards the living room, and Rei pulled the suitcase off her bed, setting it on it's wheels, moving it to the foyer. He came back inside the bedroom to grab her duffel bag. The girl seemed to have packed for a vacation, not a protective custody.

She was already waiting for him in the foyer when he returned with the duffel bag, keys in her hands, "Alright, should we get going?" she asked. Rei nodded and took hold of the suitcase, allowing the woman to take her duffel bag while she opened the door. From there he let her lock it up, and then led her to the garage.

"You know, I'm not sure this thing will fit in my car," he spoke. Motioning to the suitcase. He led her to the row of five cars, Mariah assuming he was a regular FBI agent went to the low-budget Honda, figuring the car was his, and she didn't recognize it.

"Wrong car," Rei spoke in amusement, causing the woman to pause.

"Which one is it then?" she asked curiously.

"The white one," Rei replied proudly. Mariah spotted it and her eyes widened at seeing the Toyota Supra.

"Oh my god, how could you afford that?" she asked, approaching the car, inspecting it from all angles.

"Who said I bought it," Rei replied. The look the woman gave him was priceless; Rei meanwhile ignored it and dug around his jeans pockets for his keys.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Lacking in action, but it is a vital chapter no less. Yep, the Majestics make their appearance as CIA agents; there was just no one better for the role. A bit of Rei/Mariah interaction moment for ya. More to come! So stick around! On a further note, my home page link in my profile is now linked to my Live Journal. I will be posting a developer's journal there. Feel free to comment there on ideas. And give me your own!_


	39. From Worse, To Slightly Better

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 39. You guys are going to both hate and love it. It advances the plot somewhat._

**__**

**_Chapter #39:_**_ From Worse, To Slightly Better_

Rei pulled his supra up into the garage of their place. The building inside was oddly silent as he turned off the engine. "So this is the place?" Mariah asked. "It looks like a warehouse."

"It was a FedEx warehouse at one point. Come, let's get you settled in, and introduced to the others. I have a feeling you and girls will get along just fine," Rei replied. Mariah nodded and reached over to undo her seat belt. Rei meanwhile had already undone his and was out of the car.

"Rei, this was bugging me, if you didn't buy this car, where did you get it?" Mariah asked. Rei looked at her over the cover of his miniature trunk.

"I 'took' it as my prize from this one guy a year ago, he shouldn't have bet it against me," he replied.

"I find that hard to believe," Mariah put her hands on her hips and Rei shook his head.

"Alright, I 'fess, I stole it, right out of the second hand dealership yard, happy now?" He replied with a sigh. Mariah gaped.

"And you're a FBI?" she choked out, "Oh lord! How corrupted FBI officers are."

"I wasn't FBI just a month ago, I got involved with stuff I didn't need to be involved with either. The girls are the most legal FBI agents you'll find here, and even then they are 'straight' bank robbers, convicted, but not tried," Rei retorted, pulling out her suitcase form the trunk, along with her duffel bag.

"It's still wrong," Mariah replied.

"When you have nothing better to do, crime does pay. And besides, they aren't as bad as some people out there. No drugs, rape, or serial homicide. Plenty of grand theft auto though I see," Charly appeared. Mariah looked seriously doubtful of this arrangement. But she figured she would believe them until proven otherwise. Rei seemed to be a pretty decent guy, even if he did have sticky fingers, and knew how to use them. Rei lead her inside, past the living room, Charly trailing behind them.

"Besides, being in a gang doesn't exactly make you rich... sometimes you have to borrow things with absolutely no intention of giving them back," Rei added.

"Rei, you can put the cases in the spare guest room in the back of the hall there, it's the only room we got," Charly finally spoke.

"I was planning on doing that," Rei replied.

"Sorry, oh well, I need to go tune up my Celica. I'll see you sometimes later." Charly added.

"Alright, thanks," Mariah spoke hesitantly. Charly smirked and walked away. Rei meanwhile was already standing down the hall by an open door, Mariah jogged to catch up to him.

"Well this is your room, little signs mark the bathrooms, and you can't miss them. The living room is down the main hall, and the kitchen is across from that. We got satellite, so pretty much every channel is available, as long as Tyson isn't hogging the remote. If you need any help, ask one of the girls or me, Max, Tyson, and Kenny would probably help you too." Rei briefed, Mariah nodded at some points. Taking her stuff Mariah moved inside and it was only then that Rei let out a sigh of resignation.

'It's not only she's CNN, but damn… she's on the right side of the law. This will be hell,' he thought, walking to the living room.

He came into the living room; Tyson was there, hogging the remote. He was watching the news. Tala was also there; a look of utter and total displeasure was on his face. "What's happenin'?" Rei wondered.

"I don't know what's happening here. First those five FBI agents, now a CNN reporter, what's next? The CIA?" Tala grumbled.

"Hey don't blame us," Tyson replied.

"I don't blame you for anything, you're too low IQ to blame. I blame Kai, he's letting those five get away with everything," Tala replied.

"I resent being called stupid!" Tyson barked back.

"Tala calm down, I don't think Kai would let them get away with anything unless there was some logic behind things. So far, I've seen the logic in things as they are, besides… you may not want to believe this, but some time down the road, all of us want to get a shred of a normal life. This whole alliance thing is a good way to come clean. We do some service to the community, clean up this neighborhood, and we get our slates wiped clean. I think that's a fair trade off," Rei explained. The redhead grunted and folded his arms over his chest. Rei rolled his eyes and sat down to watch TV.

It was later that night, that Kai and Charly decided to go over the guard detail reports, Charly was growing frustrated at being unable to find anything wrong with the papers.

"Okay I'm pretty much ready to admit defeat. There were no holes in the guard. None of the guards left their posts all night. There is no way an assassin could've gotten inside through one of five side entrances. The five emergency exits were also guarded." She put the papers down and looked up at Kai who was working on his laptop.

"Somehow he did get in, there has to be something we're overlooking," Kai spoke calmly; on the screen were the floor plans of the gala hall. The building was old, over a hundred years. So it made Kai wonder whether there was a secret entrance in the place that wasn't on the plans. He looked up from the screen, noticing that Charly was rubbing at her shoulder; he could see the look of sleep-deprivation in her eyes. And it made him wonder just how much sleep she got in the last forty-eight hours. Glancing at the clock at the corner of his laptop screen he realized it was past midnight. "Maybe you should get some sleep," he suggested. The woman looked up sharply.

"I'm okay… I just need more co-" she didn't get to finish as his glare focused on her. "What?" she asked.

"No coffee," he replied. Charly rolled her eyes and her hand resumed massaging her shoulder, a little harder than needed, she was officially frustrated now.

"Lilly told you about my love for coffee, didn't she?" She asked. Kai only nodded, this caused Charly to growl. She stood up and began to pace, still rubbing at her shoulder. "I want this case busted Kai, attacking the mayor is not funny anymore. Besides. I didn't tell you this, you're going to be mad," she paused in her pacing, "CIA agents showed up at Leonard's today. They're not pleased, and I have a feeling they will want to oversee this whole operation." She paced a little again before stopping and sitting back down. "I'm sorry Kai, but this situation is getting too dangerous. The FBI can't protect you guys from CIA. I'll understand if you want to get going while the going is still good."

"Charly, I thought you knew me better than that," Kai began in a grave tone. "I'm not going anywhere. The others may want to leave, that is their right. But I am not leaving; I promised you that I would help you. I will help you." His tone signified that he was dead serious and Charly felt even worse as she looked back down at the papers before her. She didn't want CIA overseeing anything. It would mean that Leonard would not be able to cover up little deviations from protocol anymore. Things were going to be done strictly by the book, and it would mean, things were going to be done the hard way.

"Kai, don't you see? I don't want to deal with the CIA. Those four, are sticklers to the book. With them sticking their noses in, Leonard can no longer cover for our little deviations from protocol. That means nothing illegal. Not even taking candy from a free sample bin, those CIA agents will look for any reason to put all of us in jail and take over this operation completely. That is how they work." She spoke. Kai just listened; the woman seemed to be in her own thoughts. And her fingers were still massaging her shoulder; he could tell she probably had pain in that place or else she wouldn't be massaging it so rigorously. But she was probably going to tear something with her clumsy attempts to loosen the muscle, and cause herself more pain.

"So it's a sacrifice we'll have to do, it's not a big loss." He spoke, getting up he quietly made his way behind her, as to not alert her.

"That means no street racing either," Charly muttered. Her hand fell from her shoulder as she sighed. Looking up she was surprised to see the chair across from her empty. Her shoulders stiffened in surprise.

"Relax," Kai spoke from behind her. "So I wont be able to race for a while, no big loss. No one could beat me anyways," he almost whispered, his voice sounding husky. Charly was about to turn to him when she felt his warm hands on her shoulders. The tension almost instantly melted away as his fingers began to move. But she was still surprised, half at the unexpected gesture, and half at the fact that he was actually good at giving a massage. Her eyes drifted shut as she savored the sensation his hands were causing. But that was all too brief as realization slammed home and Charly stood up suddenly, her eyes flying open. His hands slipped down and Kai actually stepped back in surprise. The woman turned around, her expression set firm and resolute.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked quietly, worry clear in his tone.

"No, but you were right Kai, I need to get my sleep. Thanks," Charly gathered up all her papers and moved to the door. It freaked her out how good, and right it felt when he had his hands on her shoulders. It freaked her out even more to realize she enjoyed the sensation immensely. But she had to remind herself to stay on task. She couldn't afford this right now. This was not the time to go soft. She just about had the door open when she felt his hand enclose hers on the doorknob, preventing her from opening the door.

Kai felt her stiffen at the contact; he idly wondered if he did something to upset her. "It was just… platonic," he spoke, the word 'platonic' oddly sounding hollow in his ears as he said it. "It didn't take a genius to know you were in pain. I was merely – " he didn't get to finish as the girl batted his hand away from hers, she had the door open before he could stop her again.

"It was nothing Kai, forget it," with that she left, running to her room. Kai watched her go, and as she closed the door of her room he realized his error. He meant to say that he was just being friendly, but it came out sounding as he was just doing it as a favor, he realized that probably hurt the woman the most.

Charly meanwhile fell unto her bed unto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't get the feeling of his warmth to leave her. "Damn you, that wasn't platonic," she mumbled. "Not after what happened on that beach." Licking her lips Charly was once again reminded of the brief contact they shared, and tonight, made it that much more difficult to deny the inevitable truth, she was growing too attached to Kai. She was falling in love with Kai.

"Maybe it was platonic to him, but… not for me, and that is why it must never happen again," A resolution was made, and she would be damned if she changed her mind about this one.

**_Author Notes:_**_ I bet you guys hate me now. I'm being a tease again. Next chapter will be out soon hopefully._


	40. The Good, Bad, And Ugly News

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 40 is finally out. Robert and the rest of the CIA decide to take control, and they're not taking ANY criminal undercover agents._

**__**

**_Chapter #40:_**_ The Good, Bad, And Ugly News_

It was the next morning. Leonard Patterson walked into the conference room of the central LA police precinct. The room was empty aside from two people.

"Leonard Patterson I presume?" the elderly man in the room spoke, extending out his hand. Leonard shook his hand firmly. "I see I wasn't the only one invited to this impromptu meeting." The man replied.

"Quite, but when dealing with CIA, impromptu seems to be their only way of getting what they want," Leonard replied. The man before him chuckled softly.

"Ah yes," the chief replied. The two men sat down at the table, the silent woman sat down next to the police chief. She was a rather petite brunette with brown eyes, dressed in a uniform that was clean, pressed, and spotless.

The door opened and closed and the three room occupants looked up. Leonard instantly recognized the four CIA agents that stepped into the room. "Good, all are present and early, we can begin this meeting," Robert spoke, his eyes momentarily pausing on the woman, he didn't remember inviting her.

"Who's the uninvited one?" Johnny wondered aloud. The police chief glanced at the woman and then at the agents.

"This is my assistant, Lieutenant Hilary Tatibana. She has been with this case ever since investigations began, and I do no wish her to fall behind." The chief spoke.

"That's acceptable," Robert glanced at Johnny who was about to venomously protest, silencing him with a glare. "I've called this meeting due to the fact that our superiors are not pleased with the performance of the LAPD and FBI in recent times. They see it fit that we investigate the errors and judge whether the jurisdiction over this case should be passed to someone more… capable," Robert continued.

"We have perfect control of the case, there is no need for more people to get involved, a jurisdiction exchanged would be far too complex to execute on a case this large," Leonard voiced.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood what Robert is trying to say," Enrique spoke, "He meant to say that CIA will be taking over this case."

"Our superiors seem to think that there have been one too many deviations from protocol to keep this case in FBI hands. Eventually innocents will pay the price for such deviations, and we want to avoid any unneeded casualties." Oliver added.

"That is absurd! Whatever deviations were made, were too minor to even go on the foot notes of reports," Leonard replied.

"That's not true. I have been made aware that the FBI employs the help of two criminal gangs as undercover operatives," Robert stepped in, "That on it's own is major infraction of protocol, one that I cannot, in clear judgment, overlook. Then there is the fact that the assassin at the gala is now in a coma, brought down by gunshots from an unlicensed, illegally possessed firearm belonging to such an agent. And let's not forget the now involvement of a CNN reported in this extremely sensitive case. Any resulting information leak will be catastrophic to the integrity of this case."

Leonard realized that the agents had an airtight case, those infractions were major. And as much as he tried to cover-up, there was nothing he could cover-up with. Charlene had royally screwed up that time, though not directly, but still enough to make her agreement with FBI null and void. Along with any agreement he had with Kai and his gang. Leonard also realized why the CIA so conveniently failed to invite Charlene, Vega, or Kai to this meeting, which they had the right to attend. These four agents, no longer saw them as part of this case.

"However, seeing as a jurisdiction exchange will be rather clumsy, and will slow down the investigation. We are willing to just oversee the case, so no more major infractions of protocol and regulations are made," Johnny added. Leonard couldn't believe the tone of voice the man used, he made it sound as if this was some favor the CIA was doing to the FBI.

"I fail to see how this involves the LAPD," Hilary suddenly spoke up, drawing all attention to her.

"I was getting to that," Robert replied, not restraining a glare at the woman, however she didn't seem too particularly affected by it. "Seeing as errors were made on both FBI and LAPD fronts, I propose that the case, and all involvement be shared between the LAPD, FBI, and CIA for the durations of the investigation. So that all mistakes made further be minimal at best."

"In other words, what you're really trying to say is that you no longer trust the LAPD to do it's job," Hilary replied, putting her hands on the table before her.

"You're out of line _Lieutenant_," Johnny stepped in, stressing her rank. Hilary stepped down; she did not wish to further irritate the CIA. Leonard watched the woman; anyone who would backtalk the CIA was either very brave, or very stupid, he but this woman was clearly more former than latter.

"I think we all understand what is needed to be done in the next couple of days. I do not see the purpose of continuing this meeting," The police chief added.

"I would have to agree," Robert glanced at the close. "However there is one more thing. About the criminals serving FBI, I want their files. My colleagues and I will then judge if they are fit to continue assisting this investigation, based on their records. Should we find them to be obsolete, all formal charges against them will be reinstated, against _all_ of them."

Leonard sat there in mute shock. He did not expect the four of them to go after his people with such force. And what worried him was that their records weren't spotless, chances were, they would be found 'obsolete' and he did not wish to see them going to jail. In his mind, the group paid off their debts. Charlene was not going to like this one little bit, no one was going to like it.

"I want those files transferred to the LA CIA office for me by tomorrow. With that said, this meeting is adjourned." Robert added. Leonard stood up and walked out of the room, followed by the police chief and Hilary, who received another venomous glare from Robert. As soon as the door closed Johnny folded his arms over his chest. While Enrique slackened his tie somewhat.

"I think you were being somewhat too lenient on them Robert, they are after all criminals. There is nothing to evaluate there," he spoke.

"I was being fair, though their criminal record is still there. One cannot deny the fact that they are trying to help the FBI take care of this case. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt," Robert replied.

"I would have to agree with Johnny on this one Robert, they are still criminals." Enrique voiced.

"I agree with Robert," Oliver countered. "They deserve the benefit of the doubt, they are trying to go straight after all."

"So it's a tie, we will go ahead with this evaluation. It shouldn't take longer than four hours to review all the papers tomorrow. Until then, this matter will be dropped. We still have to review the case file as it is right now." Robert exchanged glanced with his colleagues, each in turn nodded their agreement.

Leonard parted with the police chief and was soon on his way back to his office. There was much to deliberate about the situation at hand. Namely how to warn Charlene and the others of the danger, he couldn't very well just call. He was unsure about the security of the lines, where CIA was involved; nothing remained hidden from them for long. He didn't want to seem like he was harboring the criminals, no matter how good, they were still criminals. It wouldn't look good on record if charges were pressed, and they were long gone because of his warning. As much as Leonard hated to admit it, the CIA backed them into a corner.

Meanwhile, with the group. Charly was sitting in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee in her hands; she appeared to be deep in thought. Over the case, over the impeding danger the CIA were, and over the events of last night. Her mind continued to go over scenario after scenario about how the assassin might have managed to sneak into the party room. But no matter how much she tried, all possibilities seemed to be impossible.

The woman sighed and sipped her coffee, 'At least none of the guests were hurt, this mess could've been a whole lot more ugly,' she thought. "That's it!" Charly put her cup down suddenly, "How didn't I think of this before!" she was out of the kitchen like a bullet, coffee forgotten. "Vega!" she ran into the garage where the black-haired mechanic was fast at work once again tuning up her bike.

"What is it?" Vega wondered.

"I just realized how that assassin might have gotten in. The only way he might have gotten in. was if he came with one of the guests. We already know Terry was there, but the assassin probably came with someone else. For all we know, we had the mafia boss right there that night, and we let him slip," Charly spoke in such rapid succession it was difficult to follow. "I'm going to call the FBI quarters, have someone bring in the video camera tapes that night, also I need to go over the guest list again, see if there is someone I don't recognize," with that said Charly.

Vega only nodded a few times, before Charly vanished out of the room in a flurry. She was in such a rush to get to the phone that she didn't notice where she was going and soon flew nearly headfirst into something firm and warm. Looking up she blushed slightly. "Oh hey Kai," she made the move to get around him but he grabbed her shoulder.

"Where's the fire? I saw your cup of coffee, _half full _on the kitchen table."

"Oh I figured out how the assassin got in. I need to call HQ." His grip on her shoulder eased and Charly moved to the living room, where on the wall hung the cordless secure phone. The other occupants of the room looked oddly at her.

"Something the matter?" Takara wondered. Charly ignored her and left the room with the receiver, heading back to the kitchen, dialing numbers with her thumb. Picking up her mug of coffee she took a swig from it and put the phone to her ear. Kai who now stood in the doorframe could only watch.

Leonard hung up on the call, he smirked; Charlene just gave him a perfect excuse to safely pass the news. And he knew only one courier trusty enough to deliver them. Activating his intercom he leaned back, "Mrs. Hansen, can you contact Bryan please, also have copies of the surveillance tapes of the gala delivered to my office please, promptly. Thank you," he spoke with a smile. 

"Right away sir," the secretary replied, it was then that the link went dead. Leonard disconnected it and waited. CIA was smart, but this was a game of tactical moves, the only way to win it was to remain one step ahead. And right now he was one step ahead. He doubted the CIA would see the SWAT unit as a threat to their case against his agents, they didn't know that the SWAT commanders happened to be friends with one of the criminals, hence making the three of them the ideal undercover messengers. All Leonard had to now was wait.

Half an hour there was a knock on the door and a second later it opened, Bryan stepped in, "You wished to see me sir?" he spoke in a monotone.

"Yes Bryan, please, close the door and have a seat, there is something we need to talk about." Leonard allowed the man to close the door and sit down, "I realize you're not the courier, but this is a matter of far more than just these tapes." Leonard motioned to the brown box on the table, "I take it you heard about the CIA agents that showed up."

"Yes sir, I have," Bryan responded.

"Well, they seem to think that Charlene, and the others, including your friend Tala, are a problem to the case. Now they are deliberating on this, but I don't want to risk it. The reason I called you here, I want you to take these tapes to them. Charlene asked for them." Leonard paused.

"That is the official part, and… I will tell them of the danger, that is not a problem at all," Bryan replied, he smirked a bit, and Leonard leaned back in his seat again, he was pleased.

"Thank you Bryan, that is all, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience this might've caused you."

"It's nothing," with that, said Bryan gathered up the box and left the room. Leonard only folded his arms over his chest as the door closed behind the lavender haired SWAT agent. "CIA aren't the only ones who can have an ace up their sleeves," Leonard spoke to himself.

**Author Notes:** Yep. Leonard isn't ALWAYS sticking to the books. I hope I didn't make the Majestics look a bit too cruel. But Robbie does have a point, don't you think? And yes, that WAS Hillary from BB V-Force. She will get a bit more screen time a little later. This is just a prelude for things to come. And I actually spent about 30 minutes looking up her last name.

**Side Note:**

Chaotic Good and I have a collaborative spin off COTA series in the making. But we want to know what you guys think. It would extend the trilogy into a quadrilogy. The fourth in the series will not be a 'Temporal Slider' sequel. It will actually happen instead of COTA: TS. It will be called **COTA: Dark Empress Rising** (However this title may change). The plot will be somewhat T/V-Centric (T/Vers rejoice).

The fic will happen two years after the events of COTA: Destined Warriors. Vega is still haunted by the mysterious card Tala gave her as a parting gift, and decides to seek him out. What she doesn't except to find in Russia is the darker side of her. Darker than Kaosu's spell. And just when she though she had the most dangerous being on this planet under control, she finds out she was dead wrong. And the price for such a mistake may end up being too high to pay.

What do you guys think, tell me. Review please. Chaotic Good will be reading these reviews, and she's a bit weary of starting such a complex and long fic. Even if it is with my help. You guys can encourage her!


	41. Last Case Scenario

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ Chapter 41 is finally done. Somewhat dull. I keep getting writers block and school blues. Finals are upon me. And that gets my mood down._

**__**

**_Chapter 41:_**_ Last Case Scenario_

Terry was in the bowels of the Oceanis. Hunched over the engine of a black Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of sweatpants; his upper right arm was still bandaged. The ship was moving towards shore, Connor decided to visit the neighborhood, since he wanted to lie low for a few days. Let the situation calm down somewhat, which left Terry with some free time to pursue his own endeavors.

His main concern was his patchy memory; he kept seeing images in his dreams. Random confusing images of his missing time, in some of them was a blond-haired woman, either standing with her back to him, or shrouded in a veil of mist that did not allow him to see her face. Some involved what happened, and how he was 'killed'. He now knew he had a gang in this part of LA. No wonder the neighborhoods felt familiar to him. He also now knew they were dead, all ten of his buddies, shot dead. He was the sole survivor of that night, and this, some part of him wanted to get back at the man who did it and it haunted him. Terry knew, Connor would allow him, hell, he could ask Sarah, her skilled men would be glad to help him pay the vendetta.

He felt the ship shudder, signaling that it was docking. Resolution made, Terry slammed down the hood of his car and moved towards the upper decks of the ship, he had to talk to the only woman that held even inkling to his past, and maybe she could help him remember. The problem was, she probably wouldn't be easy to talk to, not after what happened.

"Tell me again, why are we playing courier? And why did you get us out here?" Ian grumbled as he parked their van in front of the old FedEx warehouse where the others lived. Bryan was sitting in the front passenger seat, the tapes resting in his lap. And Spencer was sitting in the back, eyeing the two quietly.

"This is not just a carrier mission. Leonard asked me to relay a message to the group. It's about those CIA agents," Bryan replied. Without saying any more he undid his seat belt and was out of the car in a second. The other two agents followed, Ian having to jog to keep up with his two friends. The three of them approached the front door, Bryan casually rung the bell as if it was a courtesy visit.

The door opened, "Hey guys, what a surprise, come in," Lilly smiled as she spotted the three of them. "What do owe this visit?"

"Package delivery for Charlene," Spencer replied.

"Who was it Lilly- oh Hey guys," Charly appeared. Her eyes instantly focused on the package Bryan held, causing him to smirk.

"Early Christmas," Bryan smirked handing the package over.

"I can only guess these are the tapes I asked for, if it is… I much rather be getting coal," Charly replied. The three agents smirked.

"There is more, Leonard asked us to pass a message, it's about the CIA," Spencer began. Charly paused, and stopped undoing the wrapping on the package.

"What CIA?" A voice asked. The two women turned around and Charly instantly froze.

'Ah shit!' she thought. "CIA, what CIA?" she replied, putting her best Ms. Congeniality smile, failing miserably.

"Thought I heard you three bozos," the red-haired thug continued, glancing at his three high school buddies with a smirk on his features, momentarily ignoring the now pale-as-paper women.

"Hey Tala, take it easy man, it's not their fault the CIA got involved," Ian replied.

"So the CIA _are_ involved?" Tala turned his glare back on Charly, "How come I get the feeling you and Kai are behind this misinformation too." Lilly chose that opportunity to slip out and go call for backup; she had the feeling Charly was going to need it.

"Listen, how about you just put your rage and paranoia on hold for a moment, I can explain everything," Charly replied.

"I bet," Tala replied dryly. "And while you're at you, you're just going to go get Kai, and hope he can pull rank and make me back off. Well guess what Fox, this time, excuses aren't cutting it. I want the truth, the whole truth. I'm sick of you and Kai hiding everything from us." His voice grew colder with each word he said. Charly sighed in frustration and stalked off. Tala almost growled and followed, the three SWAT agents followed as well, dumbfounded. Ian practically had to sprint after them, having decided to lock the front door first.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Takara asked as soon as the group appeared in the living room.

"Package," Bryan replied. Tala was still glaring murder at Charly. This didn't pass by Takara and Tyson who were in the room.

"What bit him?" Takara asked, looking at the three SWAT agents questioningly.

"Apparently, Charly failed to mention the CIA to him," Spencer spoke, folding his arms over his chest, leaning on the wall.

"And that's not the first time she oh so conveniently failed to mention something to us," Tala grumbled.

"We chose not to mention anything for the time being."

Tala turned his head to doorway and found himself on the receiving end of Kai and Vega's glares, and he couldn't decide whose glare was more venomous. Tala pushed off the wall and approached the blue-haired man.

"That's not the first time she hides something, and you cover up for her. I'm sick of this, if this happens one more time. I'm out of here!" with that said the man brushed past the two of them and left the room. Charly sighed and slumped her shoulders.

"I'm going to have a little chat with Wolf," Vega spoke, turning around she left. The group knew that this conversation was not going to be pretty.

"She's brave," Spencer remarked. But then all attention was focused on the three of them.

"Okay now that the situation is no longer explosive. There is a message you guys wanted to deliver," Charly asked.

"Right," Bryan paused for a moment. "Leonard asked me to relay this. Those CIA agents. They see you guys as a threat, right now they are 'evaluating' whether you are fit to remain on this case. I have a feeling that if they find you not, charges will be pressed," Bryan spoke.

"I see," Charly folded her arms bowing her head. Kai watched her, not showing any sign of worry in his stoic expression. But he was worried; this was not making the situation any more pleasant.

Vega found Tala on the roof; he was in a foul mood. That much she could tell as she slunk up on him. He made no indication whether he was aware of her presence so Vega smirked.

"What do you want Vega?" he asked. Vega cursed the man; he always seemed to choose just the moment to shoot down her moments of triumph. "If you're coming to defend your friend, spare me the bullshit," he added.

"How did you know it was me?" Vega asked.

"You're the only one who would dare to follow me right now," Tala replied, turning to glare at her. Out in the open his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, they were completely devoid of all emotion except mild anger. Vega neared, completely unafraid.

"Tell me, did you mean that? Will you leave?" the words tumbled out before she could stop them. Tala turned his head so that he didn't have to look her in the eyes as he replied.

"Yea." The reply was curt, but he was serious.

"You have to understand Tala, Charly has this complex. She doesn't go around delivering news she deems as… hanging. She didn't know much about the situation with the CIA. So she deemed it yet…" the words failed her as he turned to glare back at her.

"I don't want you sugar-coating her mistakes. I can understand her mistakes, but why didn't _you_ tell us?" he demanded.

"I – listen, Red…" the glare only intensified, but Vega ignored it, "I didn't say anything because she asked me not to, I'm her best friend. It's something best friends do." She reasoned.

"Alright, I guess I can understand that too," Tala folded his arms, his glare dissipated, and Vega relaxed a little as she looked down, seeing he wasn't armed. It was an irrational fear of her part. She was a criminal, but at the same time, deathly afraid of guns. She carried one, and knew how to use one, but it didn't mean she wasn't irrationally terrified of it. "But here is where the logic ceases to fit. She told Kai, I can bet a million bucks on the fact that she told him."

"He's command team. It was her duty to tell him," Vega replied. Her tone dipped to a quiet whisper as he looked squarely at him. His lips just faintly curled up into a grin and Vega fidgeted.

"Fine," Tala turned away, and it was then Vega relaxed fully.

"Tala don't be angry," Vega neared and dared to put her hand on his shoulder. The red-haired Russian flinched and turned around, grasping her wrist.

"I'm not that angry at her, or Kai, or anyone else. I'm just disappointed you guys don't let us know of these things. We deserve a right to know," Tala replied.

"I know…" Vega looked up into his eyes and smiled softly.

"Vega," he murmured, nearing her, still holding fast to her wrist. Vega found herself within inches of kissing him. A flashback of that moment in the garage flashed thought her mind, and the promise he made.

"You're right Red, we should've told you guys, and we will from now on. But… at the same time –" she didn't get to finish because he kissed her. Slowly at first, then passion grew and Vega closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck, one hand sliding up the back of his neck into his hair as his arms wound around her waist. Tala gave just a bare hint of a shudder, undoubtedly in sheer ecstasy as he pulled her closer and kissed her passionately. Neither noticed the spying presence hiding behind one of the vents, he grinned widely.

'Wait till the others get a load of this!' Ian thought, having followed Vega on a hunch. He also knew that he should make his escape now, should either Tala or Vega notice him. He was dead. Silently he slunk towards the door that led below.

Charly walked into the kitchen and slumped into her seat. Lilly and Mariah were already there. Lilly was drinking a cup of her chamomile tea. Mariah was on her laptop, typing something. "I'm officially down for the count," Charly announced.

"What's wrong?" Lilly set her cup down, looking up she quirked her eyebrow. Hikaru walked into the room, followed by Takara.

"You okay?" Takara asked, putting a hand on Charly's shoulder.

"I feel like this whole thing is falling apart," Charly spoke.

"Don't worry, we got your back. No snobby CIA agents will stop us," Hikaru voiced.

"What CIA?" Mariah wondered.

"Oh these four big time suit guys showed up, and decided on bossing the FBI around. And the worst part, since we're criminals technically, they can void our contract with the FBI, and send us all to jail," Lilly explained.

"All of us, the guys too. I feel like I dragged them into this alliance thing only to put them in jail. They don't deserve it, they're half decent guys." Charly mumbled.

"Did you ask what they think?" Mariah wondered.

"They're tough guys, they eluded the law this long. I'm sure if push comes to shove, they can elude it again," Hikaru spoke.

Charly was fidgeting, "I dragged them down here, and it was my fault that they got involved with the whole damned thing. There is no running from CIA. Those spiders have webs everywhere. You can't elude CIA. This is the end." She spoke gravely.

"By what I understand, maybe you should talk to Kai about your concerns. I'm sure he can come up with something," Mariah volunteered. No one saw Charly flinch at the mention of the blue-haired man.

"I can't do that," Charly replied.

"And why not?" Lilly asked.

"I…" Charly paused 'I can't because I know for sure he will want to stay. He's already in a mess because of me… I can't drag him down further. I can't do that to him,' she thought. "I just can't…" with that said Charly got up and rushed out of the room. Mariah blinked in surprise and then glanced at the other three women.

"What's wrong with just talking to him?" she asked.

"There is something you don't know Mariah. It's something that happened between them… let me explain." Hikaru sat down where Charly previously was and began to explain the whole story.

**_Author Notes:_**_ A rather… simple chapter. More stuff for you T/Vers. I hope you're happy. Next chapter is going to be good. I promise!_


	42. Moments Of Peace

**_Disclaimer:_** _I in no way own Beyblade. But I do own the plot idea of this fic!_

**_Author Notes:_**_ You guys will love this chapter! And I just know it!_

**__**

**_Chapter #42:_**_ Moments Of Peace_

It was a bit later that afternoon when Kai found Charly in her room. She was watching the security tapes, looking for any sign of any other man that Terry might have talked to. Or any sign of the assassin, and a person he could've come with or talked to.

"Any luck?" he asked, sitting down on the corner of her desk. The woman looked up at him, and shook her head.

"Nothing so far, I'm about ready to give up."

"You've been up here for hours, maybe you should take a break, clear you head," Kai suggested. Charly pressed stop on the VCR remote and got up, facing him fully.

"You might be right, I suddenly have a craving for a big mac," she smiled coyly at him.

"I know there is a McDonald's ten minutes drive away from here, tell you what. You take a break, I drive us both over there, and the big mac is on me," Kai added, jokingly.

"Tempting…" Charly responded glancing at the TV, the VCR remote was still in her hands.

"I'll even let you have mine," he added. The girl turned to face him again, a grin on her features.

"You do know how to drive a good deal. Alright Casper, let's go." she turned off the TV, put down the remote, and followed him out of the room.

"Hey Charly! Are you done with the tapes already?" Lilly saw the two heading towards the garage.

"No just taking a little dinner break," the woman replied. She knew Lilly was worried for Terry, she would be too if she had an amnesiac brother who was a hazard to himself at the present time.

"Oh…" Lilly bowed her head. "Well, have fun…" she added. Charly glanced at Kai and then moved to put her hand on Lilly's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Terry is safe for the time being," the brunette spoke, patting the blond woman's shoulder. Lilly nodded and Charly stepped back. Wordlessly the brunette continued on her way to the garage with Kai. Lilly followed the two to the garage; she smirked. Either hell froze over, or Kai would be emptying his wallet to get Charly away from work so easily. She watched the GT drive off and shook her head moving to her own Mitsubishi. She needed to take a drive to clear her thoughts.

Lilly drove to marina, she always enjoyed the marina. The serene atmosphere always helped her to calm down and clear her thoughts.

She strolled close to the piers. Watching the little sailboats bob up and down on the water. Each one was clean and white, expensive, belonging to some rich owner in Beverly Hills or somewhere else. In the distance stood the bigger boats, Progressively growing from little sailboats to dwarf cruise ships as you went further and further down the shore. Sea gulls were flying overhead, cawing away without a care in the world. Idly she strolled down the piers towards the park resting some distance away. Something was drawing her to that park; she could feel a strange force compelling her to go there. Her mind however was a total blank as she enjoyed the clean ocean air. In a few minutes she was strolling through the park.

Some distance away, lying on his back on one of the bench was Terry; his hands were behind his head. His mind drifting as the ocean breeze. However he bolted up into a sitting position when he was surprised to see Lilly coming. He instantly got up and moved toward the girl.

As he entered her field of vision, Lilly stopped dead in her tracks and actually took a step back, "Terry," she spoke.

"Hey," Terry acknowledged.

"What are you doing here?" Lilly took another step back; she was weary of the man, even if he was her brother. He didn't remember her. He was dangerous, unpredictable, a liability. Lilly felt tears gathering in her eyes, she was afraid, afraid of her own brother.

"I… we need to talk. I want to remember what I can't remember. I have a year missing in my memories, maybe more… I don't know, I can't remember that either… maybe you can help me remember," Terry explained. Lilly stood rigidly before him; Terry could tell she was ready to bolt at any movement from him. "I won't hurt you Lilly, you're the only link I have to my past right now…" he reasoned.

"You're not my brother. I don't have to trust you! My brother would never shoot anyone, that's what got him killed. To the end… he refused to shoot. My brother was kind… my brother was…" at that the blond broke down, tears streaming down her face freely, "My brother was gentle! You're not my brother! My brother is dead… you just look like him," she turned around and ran off.

"Lilly!" Terry bolted after her, he didn't know why. But seeing her so distraught actually bothered him. It hit something buried deep inside; he was oddly familiar with this feeling. He caught up and grabbed the woman by her arm, causing her to look at him.

"Leave me be!" Lilly struggled. The man however refused to let go, and this made Lilly fear him again, he had a strange glazed over look in his eyes. "Leave me be Terence!" Lilly pushed him away, making his grip on her arm slip.

--- Memory Flashback ---

_'Leave me alone Terence!' a voice, barely six years old squeaked. In his mind Terry saw his younger self, perhaps ten years old was tickling a little blond girl who lay on the grass, helplessly trying to fend him off with her hands. She was squealing in utter delight at the same time._

_"Terence! Leave Lilly alone!" a woman spoke. Terry looked up, pausing his tickling, a woman was standing on a porch of a house, her hands on the patio railing, glaring at him. "Terence I told you not to tickle your sister like that! You know how overly-excited she gets," the woman reprimanded._

_"Sorry mama," the young boy replied, bowing his head, helping his sister off the ground._

--- End Flashback ---

"Sorry mama…" Terry whispered as his mind snapped back from the flashback. Suddenly pain exploded through his head, causing the man to fall to his knees. Lilly looked at him, she could see the pain on his face, and the sweat beading at his temples.

"Terry…" Lilly kneeled down before him, worried.

"Terry! Where are you?" A voice called. Terry instantly let go of his head.

"Shit… Sarah, go! Go now!" he spoke urgently to Lilly.

"What?" Lilly rose to her feet.

"I said run! Run like hell, you don't want Sarah to spot you! Go!" Terry urged. Heeding his warning the blond turned around and ran off.

"There you are Terry!" Sarah jogged up to stand next to him, "What are you doing out here?" she wondered, winding her arm around his.

"Jogging… listen Sarah, I'm tired… Can we go back?" he wanted to get Sarah away from this park, and now. He could remember, Lilly was his sister, he remembered that, and now his instinct was to protect her from Sarah, from Connor, from anyone else that might cause her harm. He still had blanks, like how he 'died', and who 'killed' him. But what was important now was to safeguard the key to his past. To safeguard Lilly.

Meanwhile, Charly was just finishing up her second big mac as she took a long satisfied sip of her drink, finishing it off. Kai was sitting across from her, eating the last of the fries that belonged to their combos.

"You were right, I feel a little more refreshed after a good dinner," she spoke.

"Work on an empty stomach is never good," Kai argued. Charly smirked.

"Ah work… I still have that to do, just… five minutes," she got up and walked towards the rest rooms. Kai meanwhile gathered up the trays and emptied them into the trash bin, putting the empty trays in a neat stack on top of the brown wood-boxed garbage can.

Two minutes later Charly joined him outside, "You know…" he began looking out west, the sun was just beginning to set, "It's really too beautiful of an evening to be cooped inside working. Those tapes aren't going to run; maybe you should take the rest of the evening off," he suggested.

"I can't Kai…" Charly replied, she noticed he was watching the sunset. Due to the low-rise buildings it was plainly visible. But she could bet a million bucks safely that it was breathtaking at the beach.

"Can't? Or wont?" Kai wondered. The two made it to the GT and Kai disengaged the locks. Through the restaurant window he could see three women staring in awe at the car.

"Kai… those CIA-" that was enough, he glared.

"Shouldn't be the boss of you…" he interrupted. Charly bowed her head. His tone sounded harsh and Kai instantly regretted it. Both silently got into the car and buckled up, the deathly silence was broken by the hum and subsequent roar of the GT engine coming to life. It jerked back and turned around, wheels almost screeching, a second later it drove off. Charly stared out the window, a melancholy look in her eyes.

Kai then realize he shattered the warmth that was building between them all evening. All with six careless words he said. What started out the most enjoyable dinner he could recall in the last six months ended up an utter and complete disaster, all because he had to that harsh on her. He should've known, for Charly, her job was a priority, he should've known that she would choose her job over anything that might be happening between them. Especially now that she had CIA breathing down her neck. He couldn't help but feel a certain resent towards the CIA, they were pushing her beyond her limit, he could tell. The girl was tired, and now she had to work extra hard because of those CIA agents.

"Charly… I'm sorry about that outburst," he began, the woman looked away from the window and at him.

"It's okay," she smiled a little, "I know you are trying to look out for me. And I appreciate it a lot. But you have to realize, that I'm trying my best to stay on this case. If it means putting in a few sleepless nights, I will make that sacrifice," she spoke.

"You shouldn't have to!" Kai argued back. His resent for the CIA was quickly growing past resent, and approaching 'hate'. He pulled the car into the closest parking spot and let the engine idle out. "Charly, those four wouldn't care if you got killed trying to solve this case. CIA never cares about field workers. They care about results. But I know for a fact that the girls wouldn't want to see you overworked and tired all the time. It's not good for morale, already it's falling through the floor. At least let me help, that's what I'm here for." He spoke.

The woman heaved a sigh and looked up at him, flashing him a sad smile, her hand moved to rest over his, which was on the gear stick between them, "Thanks… but you're wrong. The girls are used to seeing me overworked, they will worry. But they know it's something I must do, it's my duty. It's my burden," she explained.

"That's where you're wrong." Kai replied, intertwining their fingers pulling her closer, as close as the seat belt would allow, he turned partially and reached to put his other hand on her cheek. "Part of our alliance agreement was that we would equally share the burden of command. And that means this too. The girls may be used to seeing you so out of it. But I'm not. And I refuse to get used to it, just because four CIA agents showed up. They can just go back to whatever hellhole they crawled out of . I'm not going to see the woman I care about, sacrifice everything for people that wont appreciate it," silence once again settled in the car.

"Kai…" Charly closed her eyes, fighting back tears, he said he cared. That was touching. But she knew that no matter what, she had to pull this off. She had to bring down this mafia overlord. "I don't know why you care so much… after all the trouble I brought to you," she whispered. She felt his hands let go, instantly missing his warmth, her ears missed the click of a seat belt being undone. Just as she was turning back in her seat, she felt his hand on her cheek.

"You are hardly trouble to me," his voice was a husky purr, a whisper at mostly. Charly was terrified to open her eyes, terrified to find that this was just a figment of her imagination. She heard a small click, realizing he undid her seatbelt, she let it retract, and opened her eyes, finding herself drowning in his eyes. His hand rose to her cheek again. The atmosphere in the car was suddenly tense and she felt drawn to him. "Charly… I care for you. I don't know why, or how, but I do, don't turn me away… I need you," the words left his mouth before he could stop them. Charly's eyes gaze softened.

"How can anyone turn you away?" she replied. they were nose-to-nose now and anticipation raced through her. Charly found herself wanting to take this magical moment and turn it perfect. As if reading her mind, Kai closed the distance and her eyes slid shut as he kissed her, pulling her as close as possible. The kiss was unlike any before, it wasn't as shy as the one on the beach, and it paled in comparison. All the passion they had was poured into this one kiss, and neither cared what it would mean later, they were glad to have the here and now. It was in that blissful moment, both realized the truth.

A full minute later he pulled away. Charly was blushing a scarlet hue, "Kai… I have to tell you this, as there may not be a moment later… I lo-" he stopped her putting a finger against her lips.

"Shh… I know," he whispered slowly, a second later he was kissing her again, neither cared beyond that point. The words hung in the air, though unspoken, they were clear.

**_Author Notes:_**_ There you have it. Terry remembers more, and you K/Cers get your wish. Now I want an honest show of hands, how many of you liked the last scene in the car._


	43. Prelude To Tomorrow

**_Disclaimer:_** I do not own Beyblade!

**Author Notes:** Oh man! So sorry about not getting this chapter done sooner. I had some really bad writer's block, exams, and things. But now I'm finally on summer break! Two months of focusing solely on my writing!

**__**

**_Chapter #43:_**  _Prelude To Tomorrow_

The next day, the group was at the FBI headquarters. It was about nine am and most were still tired and half asleep. The CIA guys decided to call an impromptu meeting bright and early, giving the group very little time to prepare, which was undoubtedly their plan all along.

The group of eleven filed into the meeting hall in the building and took their seats around the meeting table. Tyson yawned, putting the back of his hand against his mouth.

"I hope they realize I am missing hours of sleep for this," he grumbled.

"They realize that, but the question is, do they care? Those CIA think only of themselves, by what I can see," Charly grumbled. Leaning foreword she put her forearms on the table before her and looked down at her clasped arms. She knew what this meeting was about, full well. Either they would be walking out of here with approval to keep working on this case, and with a ton of new regulations on their head, or they would be looking at some cops with handcuffs. The door opened and closed, Leonard Patterson walked into the office.

"Good morning everyone," Leonard greeted calmly, "I see everyone made it today."

"We didn't have a choice," Tala grumbled. The room instantly went silent as the door opened and the four CIA agents filed in.

"Good, everyone could come," Robert began, putting down a rather thick folder on the table. Casting a unnervingly cold gaze around the room, which made some flinch, Tala barely restrained his urges to glare back, he knew when to strike, and now was definitely not the time.

"First things first, I'm sure all of you know why this meeting was called," Johnny spoke, he leaned on the table, "We have reviewed all the data and we have reached a decision whether or not we want to keep you people on this case." At that he stopped dead, knowing full well that the tension in the room was mounting, and right now it was thick enough to be cut with a knife.

"We decided to give the authorization to let you stay, but on one condition," Robert added, "Regulations will be enforced to a stricter degree. Our superiors don't want any one getting hurt, and this bending of rules will get someone hurt," Robert announced. Charly shook her head softly and sighed at that, out of the corner of her eye she caught the look Kai was giving her and quickly looked away, after what happened in the car the evening before, she was still a little unsure where things were going. Were they officially 'together' or something else? But whatever else it was, with this new CIA rule, nothing could happen, she had to focus on the task ahead of her.

"Despite all the regulation infractions, we couldn't just ignore the fact that your actions were still well aside from hazardous to the masses. And they were effective," Enrique added.

"There is the matter of the regulations that need to be enforced," Robert reached into the folder he brought with him and pulled out a stapled packet of papers, "In this I outlined the most major of deviations, I don't want these things repeated!" he slid the packet along the table to Leonard who took it. The girls could already tell what those infractions were, beating up people for information, street racing, stolen car parts trading, and what not. Nothing major if one thought about it, but it was enough to blemish the records of this case.

"Now on a slightly more productive topic, our superiors agreed to hand over the information CIA has gathered on this mystery mafia boss," Oliver voiced, Robert slid the rest of the rather thick folder foreword with the tiniest shadow of a grin on his features, he seemed to be enjoying this info dump happening, and enjoying it immensely.

"Well now that's out of the way, we have no further reason to continued with this meeting," Robert added. The atmosphere in the room dropped down twenty degrees and the tension along with it.

The group dispersed, the meeting was over, Hikaru however lingered. She spotted one of the CIA agents that was lagging behind the group, knowing this was an opportunity to get out some answers she approached him.

"I have a question," she spoke in a calm tone. The man looked up.

"There was a time for questions," he replied. Hikaru rolled her eyes.

"This is off the record, why are you four so damn adamant about protocol?" she wondered. The red-haired CIA agent narrowed his eyes and Hikaru wondered briefly what he was thinking, because she could almost hear the gears grinding. "I know that's a dumb question. But you seen how effective our work is with a few minor infractions…" Hikaru was cut off when he began to glare.

"If this is some attempt to sway my opinion to your side, it's not going to work. So save your breath, and don't waste my time," Johnny gathered up his papers and moved towards the door.

"It wasn't any such attempt!" Hikaru called after him.

"Sure seemed like it to me," with that said Johnny was out the door and come; leaving Hikaru wondered what the hell happened. Hikaru watched him go with an expression of surprise on her features.

"What a jerk…" she mumbled. "Figures he'd be a jackass, suit guys are mostly like that."

Elsewhere Sarah walked in the office of her younger brother, Connor glared at the approach of the woman.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's Terry, he's worrying me," Sarah began, perching on the corner on Connor's desk. "He seems a little distant latterly, more so than before. And he's been having nightmares, or trouble sleeping, the bag under his eyes don't lie," Sarah explained.

"Is that my concern?" Connor wondered.

"Connor, he's your right hand man, it should be of your concern," Sarah barked at him.

"Sarah, I am busy right now, and I'm awaiting someone to arrive," Connor glared at her and Sarah got up from her seat, frowning.

"So that someone is more important that me?" Sarah demanded.

"Yes, Sarah, you're not much help to me, even with your own squad of goons behind you," Connor replied. Sarah folded her arms and huffed in indignation.

"You can be such a jackass little brother," she spoke.

"I try, now can you please leave?"

"Sure, and I'll be taking my men with me," with that said Sarah left the office and the door banged shut behind her. Connor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.

"Harpie," he muttered.

Meanwhile at the deck, Terry was by the gangplank of the Oceanic. A black car parked below and a man got out. He was a tall dark-skinned man clad in expensive clothing; the man ascended the gangplank.

"Terry! Good ta'see you're okay brother, how are you? I'm here to see Connor; he has some business for me," the man spoke.

"He's in his cabin," Terry replied numbly, the man nodded.

"Gotcha, well… I'll be seeing ya," With that said the man walked off, pulling a cigarette out of his breast pocket and a lighter, lighting his cigarette, taking a deep satisfied puff.

Terry watched him go oddly, something about this man was familiar to him. He knew this man for a year or so now, he was Connor's personal equivalent of a SWAT team, he was like the terminator once he had firearms in his hands. Whether they were handguns, or a pair of Uzi's, his aim was that of a striking falcon. He could even make the inaccurate Uzi kill with every bullet. Nothing stood in his path, and remained alive for long, and if Connor called him, the situation was getting ugly. He was also an explosives master. If something had to go up, it'd go up in a mushroom cloud and leave the neighboring blocks barely standing in the process. The man was a pyromaniac; he played with his lidded lighter all the time. And he was not afraid of using his sheer brute force to finish anyone who stood in his way.

Terry walked toward the nose of the ship and leaned on the railing, putting his forearms on the railing before him, watching the horizon. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, knowing Lilly was his sister he could no longer follow Connor's orders to the word, he couldn't risk hurting her. But any act of insubordination and he'd be shark bait faster than he could come up with an excuse.

"Terry dear, you're here? That means that guy Connor been wanting to see arrived," Sarah wound her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Hey Sarah," Terry grumbled, to her the man sounded almost melancholy and tired.

"What's wrong hon?" She asked, purring into his ear.

"It's nothing," Terry replied. "I'm just… remembering things, and none of it is making any sense to me."

"What did you remember?" Sarah wondered, letting go of him so he could turn around and face her.

"I remember that night I was shot, it's all clear up here," Terry spoke, tapping his temple with his index finger. "But one bit is remaining to remember, who shot me? The face… it's always fuzzy, I can never see it clearly, but I know it's someone familiar, but who?" he rambled.

"You'll remember him Terry," Sarah whispered, "It'll all become clear soon. I just know it."

"I hope you're right," some odd part made Terry reaches out for the woman, and envelop her in a hug. Sarah smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, putting one hand on his chest.

"Sarah," he whispered.

"Yes?"

"Why are you always so kind to me? You were kind to me from day one, even when Connor suspected me of something," Terry rumbled, leaning down slightly. Normally he didn't want such intimate contact with the woman. But right now, with his mind racing, he needed comfort, he craved comfort, and it was the only thing that Sarah gave him genuinely, he knew she cared for him. How deeply he didn't know, but every single action she did, every word she said to him. Showed how genuinely she cared for him.

"That's a dumb question to ask Terry. I care for you because you're… you. You may put up this tough guy attitude most of the time, but you're also quite gentle. I know you were mostly gentle before you lost your memory, now you pretend to be tough and mean so that Connor doesn't see you at fault. I know you really don't want to hurt anyone, you're just doing what you're told because you owe Connor your life." Sarah replied.

"Am I that readable?" Terry wondered.

"Not to Connor, he's blind, but I have something over him. It's called women's intuition. And that's why I like you so much, you're so much more gentle than the men I'm used to in my life." Sarah replied.

"Maybe you're right," Terry rumbled. Sarah moved her head away from his shoulder and smiled. "But that still doesn't explain why you care for me as much as you do."

"That's simple," Sarah rose to tip toe, "I love you," with that said she boldly kissed him. Terry froze in place for an instant but then softly returned her kiss, unknowing why. Closing his eyes he let his mind clear and drift off in the sensation of her soft lips and the feeling of her arms wrapped around his neck.

In his mind eye the memories began to flash again, bringing him to the last moment of his previous life, the fuzzy face of the man who shot him, followed by the feeling of the bullet hitting his skull. But as he was lying there on the floor, bleeding, dying, he caught one last glance of the man. In his mind's eye the face cleared and Terry violently tore away from Sarah. He recognized the man. He was the same man that was now in Connor's office. His memories came flooding back as if the dam holding them back burst. He remembered everything. And everything suddenly made sense, he was so distraught he left Sarah standing there, staring at his retreating back as he ran back to his cabin.

**_Author Notes:_**_ Finally! I finished Chappy 43! After close to a month of writers block on this story. I hope you guys liked that plot twist at the end. And That's the first, and last Terry/Sarah moment you'll see._


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